CDC drops quarantine, distancing recommendations for COVID

Perhaps the biggest education-related change is the end of the recommendation that schools do routine daily testing, although that practice can be reinstated in certain situations during a surge in infections, officials said.

The CDC also dropped a “test-to-stay” recommendation, which said students exposed to COVID-19 could regularly test — instead of quarantining at home — to keep attending school.

“Every educator and every parent starts every school year with great hope, and this year even more so,” President Randi Weingarten said.

The new recommendations prioritize keeping children in school as much as possible, said Joseph Allen, director of Harvard University’s healthy building program.

Previous isolation policies forced millions of students to stay home from school, he said, even though the virus poses a relatively low risk to young people.

Allowing students to return to school five days after infection, without proof of a negative COVID-19 test, could lead to outbreaks in schools, said Anne Sosin, a public health researcher at Dartmouth College.

The CDC previously said that if people who are not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations come into close contact with a person who tests positive, they should stay home for at least five days.

Also on Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration updated its recommendations for how many times people exposed to COVID-19 should test.