US Eases Quarantine Time for Health Care Workers With COVID-19 Due to Staffing Shortages

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an updated guidance that shortens the amount of time health care workers who test positive for the novel coronavirus must quarantine due to staffing shortages in US hospitals.

"The following are criteria to determine when HCP [Health Care Personnel] with SARS-CoV-2 infection could return to work,” the CDC said. “HCP with mild to moderate illness who are not moderately to severely immunocompromised: at least 7 days if a negative antigen or NAAT is obtained within 48 hours prior to returning to work (or 10 days if testing is not performed or if a positive test at day 5-7) have passed since symptoms first appeared."

Health care workers were previously required to quarantine for ten days if they tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The CDC said health care workers recovering from severe COVID-19 cases may return to work 20 days after symptoms first appeared.

The CDC said is easing the quarantine time in response to the winter coronavirus surge in the United States amid the growing prevalence of the Omicron variant. However, health experts in the United States and South Africa, where the variant was first detected, have said the cases are mild and no deaths have been reported so far.