Thread by @luckytran

The CDC wants to stop telling people to isolate for five days when they are sick with COVID. This is a reckless, anti-public health policy that contravenes science, increases disease spread, and puts everyone at greater risk. 🧵

The truth is COVID is still killing and disabling way too many people, and too many are locked out of society and can’t even access medical care safely due to high levels of COVID transmission. We still need strong isolation guidelines and better public health protections. /2

People look to the CDC for science-based guidance. But this policy change goes against the science and will cause more misinformation, misleading people to think that they can’t spread COVID if they “only” have “mild” symptoms. /3

The CDC claims that levels of immunity warrant a shift, but this is misinformation. It’s true that we are in a different phase than 2020, but thousands are still dying from COVID every week, millions have Long COVID, and every reinfection puts people at increased risk. /4

This is a reckless and fatalistic comment. While it’s true that many people conceal their sickness, the solution isn’t to make doing the wrong thing acceptable. Public health shouldn’t be a race to the bottom. /5

Instead of throwing its hands in the air and rubber-stamping disease spread, the CDC should be keeping its isolation guidance, while doing a lot more to normalize the wearing of N95 masks, which would reduce the harm from those who are going out when sick. /6

This is logic is highly flawed. Governments should push for increasing structural supports like free N95 masks, more paid sick leave, and clean air infrastructure. These policies would do more to help workers, than green-lighting policies that would make workers more sick. /7

Using only “clinical symptoms” to determine when to stay home doesn’t make sense as you can spread COVID without symptoms, and studies show many people hide or underplay their symptoms, which leads to disease spread. /8

The main force driving the CDC’s COVID isolation policy change isn’t science, it’s business groups. And it will lead to increased exploitation of workers, and make workers more sick. /9

The last time the CDC weakened its COVID isolation guidance, it did so due to pressure from airline CEOs. The same corporate pressures are causing the CDC to go against science and public health now. /10