Fearing Worsening Labor Shortage, Rubio Pushes CDC to Update Isolation Guidance

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wrote a letter to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, asking for the agency to update its COVID-19 isolation guidance, which he says is "outdated."

"The risk [from the omicron variant] is that millions of fully vaccinated people will now become infected in the weeks ahead, effectively crippling America's workforce," Rubio said in his letter. "Unfortunately, the CDC seems committed to making things worse. Its outdated isolation guidance – unchanged since 2020 – instructs asymptomatic individuals to self-isolate for at least 10 days after testing positive even if they are fully vaccinated and produce a negative test result."

The CDC's website page on COVID-19 quarantine and isolation states in part: "Quarantine if you have been in close contact (within 6 feet of someone for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period) with someone who has COVID-19, unless you have been fully vaccinated. People who are fully vaccinated do NOT need to quarantine after contact with someone who had COVID-19 unless they have symptoms. However, fully vaccinated people should get tested 5-7 days after their exposure, even if they don't have symptoms and wear a mask indoors in public for 14 days following exposure or until their test result is negative."

Rubio claimed that "It makes absolutely no sense that the CDC has not updated its isolation guidance despite the widespread availability of vaccines and reliable rapid testing. The agency fails to take into account someone's vaccination status, severity of symptoms, and negative test result to shorten the period of isolation. This will lead people with mild or non-existent symptoms to simply refuse testing to avoid a 10-day isolation period."

He concluded, "It is time that the CDC take similar steps to update its isolation guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals by shortening the 10-day isolation period for those who are asymptomatic and who test negative."

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