CDC revamps recs for symptomatic employees, but COVID-19 testing can continue

Increasing evidence shows most people with mild to moderate COVID-19 are no longer infectious 10 days after they begin having symptoms. Consequently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has suddenly switched course and started discouraging people from getting tested a second time after they recover. Regardless, employers may still require a negative test before letting infected employees return to the workplace.

How we got here

Throughout the pandemic, the CDC has provided guidance for employers on when employees with a COVID-19 diagnosis or symptoms were allowed to return to work:

Symptom-based strategy. Employees needed to show (1) the symptoms had resolved and (2) 10 days had passed since their onset.

Test-based strategy. Employees had to show (1) the symptoms had resolved, and (2) they had received two negative COVID-19 tests, undergone at least 24 hours apart.

In a sudden shift, the CDC recently announced it no longer recommends using the test-based strategy unless it would allow a symptomatic/diagnosed individual to “discontinue isolation or other precautions earlier than would occur under the symptom-based strategy.” The agency also edited the components of the symptom-based strategy.

COVID-19 testing option

In a “decision memo,” the CDC suggested there are times when individuals will test positive for COVID-19 well beyond their contagiousness: