COVID-19 is becoming more like the flu and, as such, no longer requires its own virus-specific health rules, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday alongside the release of a unified “respiratory virus guide.”
In a lengthy background document, the agency laid out its rationale for consolidating COVID-19 guidance into general guidance for respiratory viruses—including influenza, RSV, adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, enteroviruses, and others, though specifically not measles. The agency also noted the guidance does not apply to health care settings and outbreak scenarios.
“COVID-19 remains an important public health threat, but it is no longer the emergency that it once was, and its health impacts increasingly resemble those of other respiratory viral illnesses, including influenza and RSV,” the agency wrote.
The most notable change in the new guidance is the previously reported decision to no longer recommend a minimum five-day isolation period for those infected with the pandemic coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Instead, the new isolation guidance is based on symptoms, which matches long-standing isolation guidance for other respiratory viruses, including influenza.
Man, last time most of my relatives died of the flu 😷 that must have been pretty bad. But good thing the flu never killed my immediate relatives like my grandparents, my parents or my siblings. The others that did get killed by the flu probably had it coming. El flu es muy bueno! Y sabroso! Yeah! Baby!
But now here comes COVID 19 trying to be a copycat. Sure if you get COVID you might get long COVID and never recover and die eventually. Sure if you got autoimmune stuff going on like HIV, colitis, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, MS and such with suppressants, you could actually die of COVID. But we’re here to make money not to worry about if you’re gonna die from a deadly disease or not. So fine COVID you can be flu like.
We’ll miss you guys! Specially my mom. I’m gonna miss her. And my sister with her MS. But hey, McDonald’s gotta make a buck! We can’t be holding the line mom! Sorry! We can work on a nice eulogy while you don’t have COVID yet. I’ll call you sometime! 😉