Establishment Media Cast Doubt on CDC’s Shortened Five-Day Quarantine Guidance 

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Wendell Husebø

The establishment media on Wednesday cast doubt on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) shortened five-day quarantine guidance over concerns the updated rules are driven by money and not science.

After nearly two years of flip-flopping coronavirus guidelines by the CDC and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the establishment media is alerting readers the latest quarantine revision is unacceptable.

The New York Times published an article Wednesday to that effect, titled, “Will Shortened Isolation Periods Spread the Virus?”

The article suggested the reduced quarantine standard from ten to five days will increase infections around the nation while the omicron variant is rapidly spreading.

“To me, this feels honestly more about economics than about the science,” Yonatan Grad, an associate professor of immunology and infectious diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told the Times.

“I suspect what it will do is result in at least some people emerging from isolation more quickly, and so there’ll be more opportunities for transmission and that of course will accelerate the spread of Covid-19,” he continued.

The Times was not the only outlet to question the newest CDC guideline. The Washington Post also ran a piece entitled, “Worries that omicron surge could lead to breakdown in essential services spurred new quarantine, isolation rules.”

The Post interviewed Walid Gellad, professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, who said the reduced quarantine guidance will increase transmission.

“There are people who are infectious and can transmit after five days,” said Gellad. “It’s probably not the majority, but there are people, so by doing this, you are in effect encouraging people to engage in activities that could increase transmission.”

Gellad even suggested disobeying the CDC guidance if one is “able to do something differently than what CDC says.”

The Associated Press’ wire, which the Los Angeles Times chose to place on their homepage Wednesday morning, also headlined doubt upon the CDC’s updated guidelines. “CDC move to shorten COVID isolation causes confusion and doubt,” the title reads.

The publication reported the revised guidelines were updated in relation to the business communities’ complaint that a ten-day quarantine is fueling labor shortages.

“The new guidance was issued amid warnings from the business community that the spike in cases could soon cause widespread staffing shortages because of workers being forced to stay home,” the AP wrote, noting airline staffing shortages.

“The decision is the right one based upon science,” a lobbying group, Airlines for America, told the AP.

A hospital worker looks out the window as nurses gather outside of Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan on March 16, 2021, as they hold a rally demanding that Albany lawmakers pass "Safe Staffing" on what is the one-year anniversary of the Covid-19 lockdown in New York. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

A hospital worker looks out the window as nurses gather outside of Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan on March 16, 2021, as they hold a rally demanding lawmakers pass “Safe Staffing” on what is the one-year anniversary of the Covid-19 lockdown in New York. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty)

But other opinions quoted in the article begged to differ.

“It’s frankly, reckless to proceed like this,” Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, told the AP. “Using a rapid test or some type of test to validate that the person isn’t infectious is vital.”

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø

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