C.D.C. Shortens Covid Isolation Period for Health Care Workers

The agency issued revised guidelines as Omicron cases climb and hospitals grapple with worker shortages that have left wards understaffed.

With rising concern over hospital staffing shortages as Omicron cases rapidly spread, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday shortened isolation periods for health care workers who contract Covid-19.

The agency recommended that health care workers who are asymptomatic return to work after seven days and a negative test, adding that “isolation time can be cut further if there are staffing shortages.”

The agency also said that those workers who had received all recommended vaccine doses, including boosters, do not need to quarantine at home following high-risk exposures.