The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released new Respiratory Virus Guidance that utilizes a unified approach to addressing risks from a range of common respiratory viral illnesses, such as COVID-19, flu and RSV.
As part of this updated guidance, the five-day isolation period has been removed for individuals infected with COVID.
Instead, the CDC recommends that people stay home and away from others when they are sick with a respiratory virus.
The recommendations suggest returning to normal activities when symptoms are improving for at least 24 hours and if a fever was present, it has been gone without the use of fever-reducing medication. Once resuming normal activities, people are encouraged to take additional steps for the next five days to avoid infecting others, such as wearing a well-fitting mask, keeping a distance from others and enhanced hygiene practices.
If you have any questions about this new guidance, please contact your school nurse.