"F**k it, cough in my mouth" says CDC.

[bigtree]

NPR @NPR · 2h
BREAKING: CDC guidelines have been revised and COVID rules have been relaxed. The new guidance lifts the requirement to quarantine if exposed to the virus, deemphasizes screening people with no symptoms and updates COVID-19 protocols in schools.

Link to tweet

...cheeky hyperbole, of course, but not really what I expected from CDC either with covid positivity levels plateaued up at January levels in my state (11%, 24hr Change: +1,916 ) after dropping in March to near 1%.

This is both an obfuscation and a surrender:

"This guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives," the CDC's Greta Massetti said in a statement. "We know that COVID 19 is here to stay," she added in comments during a briefing with reporters.

Loosening protections may well streamline modes and means in society, but it's the actual illness from the virus which ultimately disrupts, not diminished by just ignoring those consequences and effects of continuing indefinite infections.

You don't solve worker shortages, for instance, by immediately allowing infected people back into workplaces which are indifferent to the spread in their practice and operation.

Hands off by the CDC won't give them clean hands, or provide communities with a clean bill of health. This isn't science or medicine, it's political. At best, it's CDC worrying over the wrong priorities. They are there to keep us as healthy and disease free as possible, not manage commerce and employment, nor prioritize managing school bureaucracies over public health.

report: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/08/11/1116991600/with-new-guidance-cdc-ends-test-to-stay-for-schools-and-relaxes-covid-rules

[CentralMass]

1. What could go wrong ?

[Meowmee]

2. No surprise ugh

[Blue Owl]

3. Was half expecting this to be an Onion.com article!

[appalachiablue]

4. THIS. I had the same initial thoughts, Let It Rip

> "At best, it's CDC worrying over the wrong priorities. They are there to keep us as healthy and disease free as possible, not manage commerce and employment, nor prioritize managing school bureaucracies over public health."

[Hermit-The-Prog]

5. Well, I guess that's one way to reduce the anti-vaxxer population.

[EnergizedLib]

6. Great

So, people are going to be exposed and endangered again.

[BlackSkimmer]

7. I gave up on the CDC months ago.

I started wearing a mask before they admitted it was a good thing to do, and I'll keep on wearing one until I see that things are really changing.

[NYC Liberal]

8. I'm sure this will help the current teacher shortage.

Nothing like an even greater potential exposure to a deadly virus to encourage people to work in a classroom.

[Deminpenn]

9. It is acknowledging the reality

There is enough immunity and therapies to prevent severe illness. Later in the Fall there will be an updated vaccine targeted at the current covid version.

Further, nothing in the CDC guidelines prevents any individual from wearing a mask or asking to continue to work from home if that is feasible.