National Nurses United, the 225,000 member nursing union, has come out against the CDC's recent walk back of the five-day isolation period once recommended by the federal health agency for people who test positive for COVID-19, the group stated in a March 6 announcement shared with Becker's.
NNU condemned the CDC's March 1 decision saying the agency's choice to "lump COVID-19 guidance in with other respiratory viruses and to shorten its isolation guidance" is a move that "ignores the available scientific evidence that people with COVID infections often remain infectious well beyond five days."
The revised guidance, announced by CDC Director Mandy Cohen, MD, states that individuals with a COVID-19 infection should isolate and not resume activities until for at least 24 hours, symptoms show signs of improvement and fever has been gone without the use of medication.
"We are deeply disheartened to once again see the CDC weakening protections for public health, which will mean more transmission, illness, hospitalizations, and cases of Long Covid," NNU President Jean Ross, RN, stated in the release. "We must protect nurses' health and safety so that they can continue to care for their patients, especially due to the staffing crisis that many hospitals face."