The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) recently released new guidance, minimizing their recommended guidelines for self-isolation and quarantines. The state of California has chosen to ignore that new guidance and keep their much stricter rules.
Tomas Aragon, the state's Director of Public Health, announced that California will require "additional testing recommendations to exit isolation and quarantine and improved masking measures," more stringent than the CDC's current recommendation.
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To be precise, people who are found to be COVID-positive and required to quarantine must take an antigen test on the fifth day or later, which must come out negative. It is also recommended that those who are not fully vaccinated and become exposed to the disease should also "stay home for at least five days and also get an antigen test on day five."
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According to Deadline, "The framework encourages upgrading mask quality, given the transmissibility and prevalence of Omicron. It says, 'all persons should optimize mask fit and filtration, ideally through use of a surgical mask or respirator.'"
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Los Angeles County’s Director of Public Health indicated today that the county would be aligning with the state’s guidelines.
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The move drew swift criticism from many experts, who questioned the logic behind the decision.
Lawrence Goston, who directs the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, also suggests that the new guidelines shouldn't be an excuse for less restriction, stating "I don’t think there’s any big change in science that justifies a change in guidance." In his view, the guidance “has much more to do with societal function than to do with science.”
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One of the biggest criticisms was that shortening the isolation and quarantine requirement should be augmented with a negative test requirement. Today, California did exactly that with its updated guidelines.
The news comes as Los Angeles reports the highest number of new, daily Covid cases since the pandemic began on Friday. The previous record was set almost exactly one year ago, during the peak of the winter surge. On January 4, the county saw 21,849 new infections, according to its data dashboard. Today, the 24-hour count rose to 27,091, a new record and up about 35% from the 20,198 infections yesterday.
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“With cases almost doubling in [the past] 2 days, and just about 1 out of every 4 people testing positive, Public Health urges everyone to minimize the risk of transmitting the virus by not hosting or attending large gatherings over this upcoming holiday weekend,” said a statement from the L.A. County Public Health Department.
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