The United States health authorities announced on Monday new measures to deal with the wave of COVID-19 cases that the omicron variant has brought to the country, such as reducing the quarantine time for those who test positive for the coronavirus when they no longer present symptoms.
In addition, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, suggested that the vaccine be required on all domestic flights in the United States and recommended reducing or canceling the New Year holidays.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Monday that they
will reduce the quarantine time they recommend for people who have contracted COVID-19 from 10 to five days if they no longer show symptoms.
The cancellation of hundreds of flights leaves thousands of travelers stranded after the advance of omicron
Dec. 27, 202102: 28
"Therefore, people who have tested positive should be isolated for five days and if they no longer have symptoms at that time, they can leave the isolation and continue wearing the mask for five more days to minimize the risk of infecting. to other people, "the CDC said in a statement.
CDC officials indicated that the new guideline is based on evidence that people with COVID-19 are most contagious two days before the first symptoms develop and three days after symptoms.
[Queues for COVID-19 tests in Texas and Florida are saturated]
The change of guidelines occurs in the midst of a peak of cases that has brought the omicron variant.
Preliminary studies indicate that omicron may cause less severe illness than previous variants of the coronavirus, but also show that it is more contagious.
Due to the high number of people who have had to be in quarantine after contracting COVID-19 (and those who could become infected in a short time), ómicron threatens to leave without enough personnel for the health sector, airlines and other businesses throughout the country, according to experts.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky warned that
there will be many new cases of omicron.
“Not all of these cases are going to be serious.
In fact, many will be asymptomatic.
We want to make sure that there is a mechanism that allows society to function safely and without deviating from what the science indicates, "Walensky told
The Associated Press.
They recommend requiring the vaccine on all domestic flights
Fauci said Monday that the country should consider a vaccination mandate for domestic air travel, an idea that had already been raised by the Biden Administration.
Fauci, the president's top adviser, Joe Biden, on the pandemic, claimed that the vaccination requirement for flights would increase the vaccination rate and make air travel safer.
Dr. Anthony Fauci at the White House, Dec. 27, 2021.Carolyn Kaster / AP
Federal regulations already require everyone over the age of 2 to wear a face mask on board an airplane.
"When you implement a vaccination mandate, it becomes one more incentive for people to get vaccinated. If you want to do that with internal flights, I think it is something that should be seriously considered," Fauci said in an interview with our sister network MSNBC. .
So far, the Biden Administration has refused to impose a vaccination requirement for domestic air travel.
Currently, the United States requires that most foreign nationals traveling to the country be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, although citizens and permanent residents only need to show proof of a negative test taken one day before boarding.
Federal rules do not require individuals traveling by air within the country to test negative for COVID-19.
