Safety materials are provided inside a business quarantine area.Sarahbeth Maney | MLive.com
The Centers for Disease Control has updated its guidelines for what people should do if they are diagnosed with coronavirus.
The revised quarantine guidelines say people who test positive for COVID should quarantine for 10 days after the onset of symptoms. Quarantine can end when the patient shows a general improvement in symptoms, including being fever free for at least 24 hours without the aid of fever reducing medicines. Asymptomatic patients can end isolation 10 days after the date of their first positive test.
“This update incorporates recent evidence to inform the duration of isolation and precautions recommended to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to others, while limiting unnecessary prolonged isolation and unnecessary use of laboratory testing resources,” the CDC said in a statement.
Previously, the CDC recommended people quarantine for 14 days and have two negative tests to end isolation.
The CDC cautions, however, that some people with severe illnesses may still have an “extended duration of isolation” for up to 20 days.
One thing that hasn’t changed – people who have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 should stay home for at least 14 days after their initial exposure.
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Here are the latest coronavirus headlines
Fauci: Covid may never be eradicated
The world may have to learn to live with coronavirus, according to America’s leading virus expert.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, direct of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said while he feels the world can get control of coronavirus, it may never eliminate it entirely.
“I think with a combination of good public health measures, a degree of global herd immunity and a good vaccine, which I do hope and feel cautiously optimistic that we will get, I think when we put all three of those together, we will get control of this, whether it’s this year or next year. I’m not certain,” Fauci said. “I don’t really see us eradicating it.”
Fauci said one of the challenges of addressing coronavirus is its unique nature.
“I have never seen infection in which you have such a broad range literally no symptoms at all in a substantial proportion of the population to some who get ill with minor symptoms to some who get ill enough to be in bed for weeks,” Fauci said. “Others get hospitalized, require oxygen, intensive care, ventilation and death. The involvement with the same pathogen is very unique.”
Ohio governor orders masks
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Wednesday all citizens will be required to wear masks in public.
The state had already mandated masks for certain COVID hotspots in the state. The new measure goes into effect Thursday at 6 p.m. and required individuals to wear masks indoors at anyplace that’s not a residence, at outdoor locations where 6 feet of social distancing is not feasible and when waiting in line for public transportation.
Those with medical conditions or who are communicating with someone with a disability, as well as people participating in athletic activities, officiants at religious services, those involved in public safety or those eating or drinking are exempt.
Nashville orders restaurants to close at 10 p.m.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper said restaurants in the Tennessee town must close each day at 10 p.m. starting this Friday.
Cooper said the order covers restaurants and eateries that “ended up being bars in practice” and any establishment that service alcohol. Drive-through and take-out service will be allowed to continue after 10 p.m.
Nashville has reported some 18,000 coronavirus cases, with 155 virus-related death and 200 current hospitalizations.
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