As national COVID-19 guidelines for individuals relax, Whatcom County Health and Community Services continues to encourage caution around respiratory illnesses.
In new guidance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reduced the five-day isolation period after testing positive for COVID-19, flu, RSV or other respiratory illnesses. New guidance says people can return to normal activities after they have not had a fever for 24 hours and their symptoms are improving.
Whatcom County Health and Community Services said these are “baseline recommendations” and people can opt to be more protective.
“This includes wearing a mask, taking steps to improve airflow and filtration, frequent hand washing, regular cleaning, physical distancing, and, if possible, testing when you will be around other people indoors,” the health department said in a news release.
People can be contagious even after symptoms improve, the health department said, and added that it’s a “good idea” to wear a mask and stay away from vulnerable people in that period. People with COVID-19 can be contagious for five to 10 days after their illness begins; flu for five to seven days after illness begins; and RSV three to eight days after illness begins.
This guidance does not apply to health care settings.
“This updated respiratory virus isolation guidance reflects that we’re in a better place now in the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Chief Science Officer Dr. Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett of the Washington State Department of Health.
“But while life is returning to normal in many ways, we must remember that for many in our community with chronic conditions and weakened immune systems, respiratory virus infections such as COVID-19, flu, and RSV remain a deadly threat,” Kwan-Gett said in a news release. “Each week, more than a dozen people in our state lose their lives to COVID-19 each week. We must not rest until that number is zero.”
Whatcom County’s respiratory virus data dashboard reported significant community transmission, with influenza above the transmission alert threshold, and COVID-19 and RSV below the transmission alert threshold, as of Saturday, March 16 data.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
