Brian Mayer on WNC

So last week, did you hear this? The Centers for Disease Control

announced new COVID guidelines dropping the long recommended five-day isolation period

after you test positive or have symptoms. According to the CDC, you can return to work or school after being fever-free for just

24 hours, much like you would after any other common respiratory infection,

like the flu or other things.

Fever-free is the new standard, no longer a negative test or five days from first symptoms. But should COVID be treated like

the flu at the start of the decade the virus killed over a million people in the

United States alone vulnerable people are still dying from COVID infections, more than 2,000 a week in January,

more than 500 last week, according to the New York Times, COVID tracker,

and many amongst us are living with long COVID

symptoms after that initial infection.

So is it really in the public interest to send contagious kids to school, contagious

adults to the workplace.

After just 24 hours, fever-free is the only measure.

Joining us now to explain further, the CDC's updated COVID-19 isolation recommendations and react to them is

Jessica Malady Rivera, science communication advisor at the Public Health

oriented de Beaumont Foundation.

Jessica is an infectious disease epidemiologist,

which means she studies the spread of diseases.

That's what epidemiologists do.

Jessica, great to have you again.

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