Eight things to know:
Updated infection and control measures include:
1. Quarantine is recommended for patients who have had close contact with someone with COVID-19 if they’re not up to date with all recommended vaccine doses.
2. Quarantine is not needed for asymptomatic patients who are up to date with all recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses or who have recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days; potential exceptions are described in the guidance. Some patients should still be tested.
3. A test-based strategy and consultation with infectious disease experts is now recommended for determining the duration of quarantine for COVID-19 patients who are moderately to severely immunocompromised.
4. Additional examples when universal respirator use could be considered.
New community masking guidelines
5. The CDC is now relying on how COVID-19 is affecting a community’s healthcare system — rather than transmission rates alone — as a guide for mask recommendations.
6. Under the new framework, an area falls in one of three COVID-19 community levels, with recommended prevention measures varying by level. About half of U.S. counties, representing nearly 70 percent of the U.S. population, were in the low or medium COVID-19 community category as of Feb. 25, CDC officials said.
7. The agency also updated guidance for schools, recommending universal mask-wearing only in schools in communities at the high level.
8. CDC officials emphasized that people who remain at higher risk for COVID-19, such as people with immunocompromising conditions, may choose to take extra precautions, regardless of their community’s COVID-19 level.
