<
https://newrepublic.com/article/179304/covid-cdc-guidelines-isolation-symptoms>
"Four years after the Covid-19 pandemic slammed into the United States, forcing
shutdowns and killing 1.1 million people and counting, the U.S. is considering
one of the final steps that might cement Covid’s status as just another virus,
similar to the flu or RSV: Instead of recommending a period of isolation for
those who test positive for Covid, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention plans to recommend a symptom-based system, anonymous agency
officials recently told
The Washington Post. If someone has been fever-free
for 24 hours and other symptoms are improving, they would be free to leave
isolation; presumably those without symptoms or without fever would never
isolate, even while they are testing positive. This could be part of broader
new “pan-respiratory guidance,” a topic CDC director Mandy Cohen reportedly
broached last fall.
While public appetite for Covid news is low, experts say the stakes for
communicating about respiratory illnesses are deceptively high. An ongoing bird
flu outbreak and a small but deadly swine flu outbreak in Colombia this year
have public health experts worried that another flu pandemic is all but assured
in coming years. As government officials downplayed Covid, flu, and other
deadly viruses in recent years—shortening Covid isolation times and lifting
restrictions—misinformation about measles, another respiratory illness, has
proliferated. A massive measles outbreak is currently roiling Europe, and
Florida has now reported multiple cases at a single school. State officials who
rose to prominence by opposing Covid measures said the 200 unvaccinated
students who had been exposed did not need to quarantine.
Then there is the threat of more novel viruses; dangerous new coronaviruses
have emerged every seven to nine years in the past two decades, which means we
may be soon see another. In the meantime, Covid is still hospitalizing and
killing people even with current guidelines; it could get worse when people are
urged to move more freely while contagious.
In theory, we should be better equipped than ever before to counter these
threats. “Covid has elevated the amount of access and information and awareness
that we have [of] seasonal respiratory viruses,” said Erin Sorrell, senior
scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Covid taught us that
these respiratory viruses can be airborne, that asymptomatic people can still
infect others, and that the time it takes to stop shedding the virus can vary
widely; we also learned what we can do to lessen these challenges.
The CDC has yet to make the proposed changes public—or even confirm the
Post’s report. When I contacted the agency for comment on this piece, a
spokesperson responded that there are “no updates to COVID guidelines to
announce at this time,” and the agency “will continue to make decisions based
on the best evidence and science to keep communities healthy and safe.” But the
guidelines outlined by the
Post’s three sources would run counter to the
available research on Covid and other respiratory illnesses—presumably in order
to satisfy economic and political interests. The consequences both for
contagion and public trust, should the agency follow through on these plans,
could be severe."
Via Violet Blue’s
Pandemic Roundup: February 29, 2024
https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-99442377
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
