CDC updates COVID-19 guidelines with sweeping overhaul

On Thursday, we announced significant changes to government agencies' COVID-19 guidance.

"Not only does this guidance acknowledge that the pandemic is not over, it also helps ensure that COVID-19 no longer seriously disrupts our daily lives." , CDC's Greta Masetti said in a statement announcing the change. 

One of the biggest differences in the new recommendations is that her COVID-19 prevention guidance for the CDC is no longer differentiated by whether people have up-to-date immunizations. .

Testing to screen for COVID-19 will no longer be recommended in most places for people without symptoms of COVID. 

and the CDC states that "quarantine of exposed persons is no longer recommended, regardless of vaccination status, to limit social and economic impact." 

Massetti told reporters on Thursday that recommendations are being revised to simplify her COVID-19 guidance for countless federal states into a simpler "framework." rice field. 

"There's not much new in our guidance package. What's new is how we present it as a framework and how we communicate updates." she says Massetti. 

"This is how people can see how all these elements fit together. It starts with understanding the risks of serious illness, and the risks of loved ones.” 

Government agencies are also issuing guidance on “cohorting” and encouraging students who have been exposed to the virus to attend school. Removes some specific COVID-19 recommendations for schools, such as “test-to-stay” strategies where you can stay. As they continued to test negative.

“The main changes in the school guidance are in the section that corresponds to the change in community guidance, so, for example, it no longer recommends quarantine. ', Masetti told reporters. 

A summary of the changes was published onThursday in the Agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 

Detailed recommendations will be updated and "streamlined" in the coming days to include travel, nursing homes, and other high-risk collective settings. 

Nursing and healthcare settings will continue to rely on the agency's old community transmission framework, based on his number of reported COVID-19 cases, Masetti said. 

The remainder of the agency's guidance will continue to be tied to his CDC's COVID-19 community level his benchmark. This is a County Low, Medium, or High level disease.

Massetti said the agency continues to reassess the performance of these indicators, but at this time, "there are no results to suggest that significant changes are needed at this time." not. 

CDC COVID-19 officials have telegraphed plans to significantly revise and simplify guidelines over the next few months to help curb the virus and change the threat posed by it. Half a year has passed since the pandemic, acknowledging growing fatigue from measures aimed at suppressing it.

In recent months, the CDC has scaled back a significant portion of its standalone pandemic response by integrating its COVID-19 efforts into the agency's regular team, Williams said. said to have moved in that direction. 

This change comes at a time when his latest wave of COVID-19 appears to be waning. Hospitalization rates are after reaching the worst levels seen since the winter Omicron spike. 

Deaths he averaged around 400 per day, far less than the worst peak of the wave so far, but still the leading cause of death in the country. It is a level that is one.

"This is about shifting public health's focus to sustainable efforts to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on health and society," Williams added.