Trump administration plans to shorten recommended quarantine timeframe for Covid-19

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Giroir told a press conference by the US Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday that there is starting to be a “preponderance of evidence” that a shorter quarantine, supplemented by a test, may be enough to slow the spread of Covid-19, and that a 14-day quarantine may no longer be necessary. He did not specify precisely what shorter deadline was envisaged.

“We’re actively working on these kinds of guidelines right now, looking at the evidence, but we want to be absolutely sure,” Giroir said. “Again, these types of recommendations are not willy-nilly. They are developed with a variety of experts.”

A CDC spokesperson told CNN: “The CDC is still reviewing its advice and recommendations in light of new understandings of the virus that causes COVID-19, and will announce such changes where appropriate.”

Health experts have recommended a 14-day quarantine for those infected or exposed to the virus since the early days of the pandemic, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has consistently used this standard during the crisis – recommending that the start of the pandemic, for example, that people self-quarantine for two weeks after traveling to countries where transmission of the coronavirus is widespread.

Many cities and states have also required or recommended two-week quarantines for people traveling from hot spots in the United States.

Dr Peter Hotez, an infectious disease specialist at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN’s Erica Hill on “The Lead” that the 14-day standard intends to cover the potential incubation period of the disease, and that “if you’re going to become symptomatic, it usually takes four to six days.”

“But we know it’s a range, it’s a probability, and about 90% of them turn positive in 10 or 11 days, so maybe that’s what they’re looking to reduce those three days. extra because 90% of people are going to be positive by then, ”he said.

“And even 14 days is not perfect,” Hotez added. “You still get the positive outliers after 20 days, so probably something like that to make it a bit easier.”

The potential change in guidelines would add to a growing list of pandemic-related recommendations that have changed in recent months. In August, the CDC raised the bar on who should get tested, advising that some people without symptoms probably don’t need it – even if they’ve been in close contact with an infected person – before changing again this orientation. next month.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

CNN’s Nick Valencia, Sara Murray, Kristen Holmes and Arman Azad contributed to this report.

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