The U.S. is considering shortening the 10-day quarantine period for asymptomatic health care workers who test positive for COVID-19, according to chief White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci.
The top infectious diseases expert told MSNBC on Tuesday that the federal government’s recommended quarantine time is “still 10 days.”
He added that health officials are deliberating whether to shorten that window for those who “might get infected and be without symptoms” as the omicron variant spreads across the country.
“We want to be careful that we don’t keep them out of action for that long period of time,” Fauci added, “so there’s at least consideration … of diminishing the quarantine time to get them back to work safely.”
“We want to be careful that we don’t have a shortage of health care providers,” he said.
Fauci told CNN that while there are “no decisions yet,” changing the guidance is an “important consideration that is being discussed right now.”
“Rather than keeping [health care workers] out for seven to 10 days, if they are without symptoms, put a N95 mask on them, make sure they have the proper PPE, and they may be able to get back to work sooner than the full length of the quarantine period,” Fauci said to CNN.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
Fauci’s comments on reducing the quarantine window come as states across the U.S. have been inundated with COVID-19 cases in recent weeks and hospitals in Ohio and Minnesota have appealed to the public to get vaccinated.
The CDC warned on Monday that “current increases in Omicron cases are likely to lead to a national surge in the coming weeks with peak daily numbers of new infections that could exceed previous peaks.”
The agency also announced that the omicron variant now makes up a majority of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., with 73.2 percent of infections in the country linking back to the highly mutated strain.
The variant was first identified in South Africa last month, but has since spread widely across the globe. While the omicron strain is highly transmissible, experts say that individuals who are fully vaccinated and have received a booster shot are well protected against severe disease.