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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to shorten the recommended length of quarantine after exposure to an HIV-positive person to COVID-19, as the virus rages across the country.
According to a senior administration official, the new guidelines, which are expected to be published as early as Tuesday evening, will allow people who have come in contact with someone infected with the virus to resume normal activity after 10 days, or 7 days if they are. receive a negative test result. That’s down from the recommended 14-day period since the start of the pandemic.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the announcement, said the policy change had been under discussion for some time as scientists studied the incubation period of the virus. This policy would hasten the return to normal activities of those considered “close contacts” of those infected with the virus, which has infected more than 13.5 million Americans and killed at least 270,000 people.
While the CDC had said the incubation period for the virus was supposed to extend to 14 days, most individuals became infectious and developed symptoms between 4 and 5 days after exposure.
This isn’t the first time the CDC has adjusted its guidance for the novel coronavirus by adapting to new research. In July, the agency shortened its advice on how long a person should remain in isolation from 14 days to 10 days after experiencing the first symptoms of COVID – provided they were no longer ill.
The new directions were presented Tuesday at a meeting of the White House Coronavirus Working Group for final approval.
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AP writer Mike Stobbe contributed.
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