CDC Says Shorter Quarantine is OK with Negative COVID-19 Test
The CDC on Wednesday announced that COVID-19 quarantines can be shortened to seven days after negative test results and no symptoms.
CDC COVID-19 incident manager Henry Walke said 14 days remains the baseline quarantine recommendation for people exposed to someone diagnosed with the coronavirus. But the shortened time periods — 10 days without symptoms and 7 days with no symptoms and a negative test — are intended to give people more options for returning to work.
That negative test should be from a genetic PCR test, not a rapid test, which is more likely to return a false negative if someone is not tested at the peak of their infection.
This change does not affect people who have tested positive for COVID-19, who are still required to self-isolate for 10 days.
