Ontario health officials evaluating new CDC guidance on shortened COVID isolation

Ontario health officials are looking at new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on shortened COVID-19 isolation and quarantine periods.

Ontario chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore was set to hold a press briefing Tuesday afternoon to provide an update on contact tracing and COVID-19 testing in the province, but his update was postponed.

“In light of the recently updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on shortening the recommended isolation and quarantine period, the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and Public Health Ontario are evaluating this guidance against Ontario-specific evidence,” a statement from Carly Luis, communications director for Health Minister Christine Elliott, said.

Moore will now provide an update sometime later this week.

U.S. health officials on Monday cut isolation restrictions for Americans who catch COVID-19 from 10 to five days if they no longer have symptoms, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine.

CDC officials said the guidance is in keeping with growing evidence that people with the coronavirus are most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptoms develop.

— With files from The Associated Press

by Global News