The new guidance aligns COVID recommendations with other respiratory viral illnesses such as flu and RSV.   

The simplified guidance recommends that even if the person doesn’t know what virus is causing the illness:

• People should stay home when they are sick and symptomatic
• Resume normal activities if their symptoms have been improving and they are fever-free for at least 24 hours without any medication.   

The shift reflects sustained decreases in the most severe outcomes of the virus since the beginning of the pandemic. It also is a recognition that many people aren’t testing themselves for COVID-19. 

The agency pointed to a recent survey where less than half of people said they would do an at-home test for COVID-19 if they had cold or cough symptoms, and less than 10 percent said they would get tested at a pharmacy or by a health care provider. 

Though the virus is still killing around 2,000 people on average every week, deaths are down by more than 90 percent from the omicron peak, the agency said.  

In 2022, COVID-19 accounted for more than 245,000 deaths. Last year, that number was around 76,000.    

“Today’s announcement reflects the progress we have made in protecting against severe illness from COVID19,” CDC Director Mandy Cohen said in a statement. “However, we still must use the commonsense solutions we know work to protect ourselves and others from serious illness from respiratory viruses—this includes vaccination, treatment, and staying home when we get sick.” 

The change is more realistic than asking people to isolate for five days, said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.  

“We do make a lot of broad decisions in health care, because we know how people are going to behave,” Benjamin said. “Medicine is both an art and a science. So in many ways, they’re [CDC] following the art component of this.”  

Even if you go back to work or school quickly, the CDC still wants people to play it safe for five days after returning. That includes masking around vulnerable people and opening windows to improve the flow of fresh air indoors.