California bucks CDC guidance and maintains tougher restrictions

The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) recently released new guidance, shortening their recommended guidelines for self-isolation and quarantines. The state of California has chosen to ignore that new guidance and keep their much stricter rules.

Tomas Aragon, the state's Director of Public Health, stated that California will require "additional testing recommendations to exit isolation and quarantine and improved masking measures," more stringent than those which the CDC are currently recommending.

To be precise, people who are found to be COVID-positive and required to quarantine must take an antigen test on the fifth day or later, which must come out negative. It is also recommended that those who are not fully vaccinated who are exposed to the disease should also "stay home for at least five days and also get an antigen test on day five."

According to Deadline, "The framework encourages upgrading mask quality, given the transmissibility and prevalence of Omicron. It says, 'all persons should optimize mask fit and filtration, ideally through use of a surgical mask or respirator.'"

Lawrence Goston, who directs the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, also says that the new guidelines shouldn't be an excuse for less restriction, stating "I don’t think there’s any big change in science that justifies a change in guidance."