Updated Ending Isolation and Precautions for People with COVID-19: Interim Guidance
Updated Ending Isolation and Precautions for People with COVID-19: Interim Guidance — CDC has released an update that combines guidance on ending isolation and precautions for adults with COVID-19 and ending home isolation webpages. This update includes evidence for expanding recommendations to include children. Some key points of this interim guidance include:
For most children and adults with symptomatic SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 infection, isolation, and precautions can be discontinued 10 days after symptom onset and after resolution of fever for at least 24 hours and improvement of other symptoms.
For people who are severely ill (i.e., those requiring hospitalization, intensive care, or ventilation support) or severely immunocompromised, extending the duration of isolation and precautions up to 20 days after symptom onset and after resolution of fever and improvement of other symptoms may be warranted.
For people who are infected but asymptomatic (never develop symptoms), isolation and precautions can be discontinued 10 days after the first positive test.
Patients who have recovered from COVID-19 can continue to have detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA in upper respiratory specimens for up to 3 months after illness onset. However, replication-competent virus has not been reliably recovered and infectiousness is unlikely.
To learn more, please visit: Ending Isolation and Precautions for People with COVID-19: Interim Guidance (cdc.gov)