The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received backlash from health experts and other groups over the newly released COVID-19 isolation guidelines on Dec. 27.
Concerned over the recent surge in cases, due to the omicron variant, critics are questioning the CDC’s new quarantine regulation: a shorter isolation period (five days) and no testing requirement before ending the isolation.
"The reason is that with the sheer volume of new cases that we are having and that we expect to continue with omicron, one of the things we want to be careful of is (that) we don’t have so many people out,” President Biden's chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci told CNN, according to The Hill.
Earlier in the pandemic, the CDC recommended a 14-day isolation period for anyone infected with the virus and that has since been reduced to 10 days.
However, federal officials recently cut in half the recommended isolation period after a COVID-19 infection for those who are not showing symptoms, regardless of vaccination status.
The CDC has been under pressure from business groups to shorten the isolation period due to staffing shortages, according to The Hill.
