U.S. health officials are looking at shortening the recommended time a person should quarantine after potential exposure to the coronavirus, multiple reports said Tuesday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends anyone who may have been exposed to the virus isolate themselves for 14 days. The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reports the CDC is finalizing new guidance that would change that to between seven and 10 days, presuming the person has tested negative for COVID-19.
The CDC is working to finalize the exact time period and what type of test a person would need to take to be considered COVID-negative under this scenario, WSJ reported.
"If a test comes back negative, then their probability of going on and developing an infection after that is pretty low," CDC COVID-19 incident response manager Dr. Henry Walke said, according to WSJ.
Walke also reportedly said there is some risk infections would be missed, but that the trade-off may be worth it because more people would be more likely to quarantine for a shorter period.
The U.S. neared 12.6 million total cases of COVID-19 Tuesday as the fall surge continues, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker. Approximately 170,000 new cases were reported Tuesday. This comes as there are signs showing millions of Americans are choosing to go forward with their Thanksgiving travel plans despite warnings from the CDC and other health experts to avoid large family gatherings this year.