California and Oregon, once among the most cautionary of states during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, have declared radical policies countering current federal government guidelines. No longer are asymptomatic, infected individuals required to quarantine for 5 days (and mask up to day 10). Instead, those who test positive yet exhibit no symptoms are free to attend school, work, and travel. As Dr. Bronner, a medical practitioner for viral pathogens, puts, “The emergency has ended. Covid-19 is endemic.”
This is quite problematic. The determinant to whether someone quarantines should be based on transmissibility. Asymptomatic people are still capable of spreading the virus, and studies published by the JAMA Internal Medicine Network show that the highest contagious period occurs a few days before and after symptoms appear. Moreover, over 1,500 people still die each week from COVID. There also still remains the faulty federal guideline that only people who test positive have to quarantine. Those who don’t are under no obligation to isolate.
As epidemiologist Jason Salemi puts, “I don’t want people coming to work and interacting with me if they’ve got the flu and are still infectious, if they’ve got strep throat and they’re still infectious, and of course if they’ve got Covid-19 and they’re still infectious.”
Surely, this statement is agreeable to many.
Yet, Oregon has had these policies implemented since May, and its death and hospitalization rates have remained similar to the national averages.
Reasons for relaxation of COVID guidelines stems from the perspective that the benefits of long isolation no longer surpass the need for those in the workforce, school, or other life activities. This ties into the larger, collective feeling of exhaustion of Americans towards news of a virus that has been around for too long. In response to Dr. Bonner, the emergency response has ended… but the danger still exists.
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