How long should you isolate yourself if you have Covid-19 but have been vaccinated? There is some debate
But this holiday season, there has been a growing debate about the number of days to isolate if you test positive for Covid-19, but have no symptoms and are fully vaccinated – or better yet, received a booster dose.
This debate comes as cases of Covid-19 increase across the United States. As of Tuesday, the nation has an average of 139,764 new cases each day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University – up 16% from a week ago.
“We should have as little time for isolation as possible for a variety of reasons,” Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN medical analyst and former Baltimore City health commissioner, told CNN’s Kate Bolduan on Tuesday.
“One is for healthcare professionals who test positive. You do not want these people to be out of the workforce, and then we have a serious shortage. The other reason is that we actually want to encourage people to find out that they are positive,”[ads1]; in Wen. “What if you do not want to miss days from work? You may end up not testing, because you do not want to find that you are positive. And so, if you reduce 10 days to five days – even if we end up missing a percentage of people who can still be contagious – you can actually get higher compliance if you get a lower number of days needed for isolation. “
US officials are considering shortening the isolation period
The CDC now notes on its website that isolation should start on the first day you notice symptoms, with day one of the isolation being the first full day after the symptoms began.
If you test positive for Covid-19 but never have symptoms, day one of isolation is the first full day after the positive test. However, “if you develop symptoms after testing positive, the 10-day isolation period must start again,” and day one is the first full day after your symptoms developed.
“It is certainly an important consideration, which is being discussed right now,” Fauci said.
“For example, if you get a healthcare professional who is infected and without symptoms at all, you will not keep that person out of work for very long,” he said, especially if this personnel is needed due to an increase in illness in winter and hospitals that may run out of beds.
“If you have someone who is infected, instead of keeping them out for seven to ten days, if they are asymptomatic, put an N-95 mask on them, make sure they have the right PPE, and they may get back to work before, “Fauci said.
Many doctors and researchers claim that if someone is completely vaccinated, they can test themselves to find out when they no longer need to isolate themselves.
“I think we should use rapid tests to shorten isolation periods – people should be able to end the isolation when they are negative on a rapid test, since they are no longer contagious,” Adalja wrote. “Quarantine periods can also be changed by using serial antigen testing to know one’s status and allow safe interaction. Omicron makes this a more urgent concern as infection and exposure will become much more common.”
The quarantine refers to when someone has been exposed to the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, may or may not have been infected, and therefore must avoid others. Fully vaccinated people do not need to be quarantined unless they have symptoms, according to the CDC.
Isolation, on the other hand, is when someone tests positive for Covid-19 and needs to isolate themselves from others until they are no longer contagious, even if they have no symptoms.
How to find out if your symptoms are Covid or something else
Testing for Covid-19 is key, as in some cases it can be difficult to tell Covid-19 symptoms from the flu or even the common cold.
This winter, there is concern about a potential “twindemi” of Covid-19 and the flu, and it is important for people with respiratory symptoms this season to see their doctor immediately for testing, said Johns, an emergency physician and senior medical advisor to PM Pediatrics, who has more than 70 pediatric offices across the United States.
She said that when young people – up to 26 years old – come into her office with symptoms, such as cough, fever or runny nose, the only way to find out is if they have the flu, Covid-19 or a cold. through testing.
“I think there is an important point that needs to be made, especially right now while we are still in the middle of this pandemic,” Johns said.
“It is difficult to see the difference without a test. There are some trends. Typically for influenza, the clinical feature is high fever, and it is less common in colds and is not always a feature of Covid-19 infection.” in Johns. “But none of it is 100%, and there is enough overlap in all three of these that the only way to know the difference is through testing.”
