Shorter quarantine recommended

CDC says anyone exposed to an infected person should isolate for 10 days.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shortened the recommended length of quarantine for anyone exposed to a person infected with the coronavirus, even as COVID- 19 cases and hospitalizations rise dramatically across the nation.

The new guidelines allow people who have come in contact with an infected person to resume normal activity after 10 days.

That’s down from the 14 days that have been recommended since the onset of the pandemic.

Those who test negative for the virus three to f ive days after exposure may resume normal activities after a total of seven days.

Allowing people to reduce the length of their quarantine poses a small risk, the CDC acknowledged, but the change will make it easier for people to follow the agency’s guidance.

The change is based on extensive modeling by scientists at the CDC and elsewhere, said Dr. John Brooks, chief medical officer for the CDC’s COVID- 19 response program. It has been under discussion for some time.

While the the incubation period for the coronavirus can extend to 14 days or beyond, most people became infectious and developed symptoms four to f ive days after exposure.

The new guidance was presented Tuesday at a White House coronavirus task force meeting for f inal approval.

This isn’t the f irst time during the pandemic that the CDC has adjusted its advice in light of new research.

In July, the agency shortened the length of isolation recommended once symptoms begin. If a person is no longer sick, his or her isolation could end after 10 days instead of 14, the CDC says.