CDC Eases COVID Restrictions: What Remains In PA

PENNSYLVANIA — COVID-19 mitigation guidelines have been relaxed, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced in an update on Thursday. The news marks a notable shift for Pennsylvanians residents as key recommendations from the beginning of the pandemic are going away.

Among the alterations: federal health officials are no longer recommending people quarantine following exposure to someone positive for COVID-19. Additionally, they're dropping guidance for people to stay six feet apart.

Instead, the agency is recommending those exposed to someone with COVID-19 wear a mask for 10 days and test for the virus on the fifth day.

It comes as just 10 Pennsylvania counties remain in the "high" category for COVID-19 transmission, the category in which the CDC recommends masking in indoor public spaces. The vast bulk of the state is in the "medium" transmission range, with several counties even reaching the "low" mark.

The guidelines for individuals who test positive remain unchanged. They should isolate for five days and may end isolation after that time if they are fever-free for 24 hours without medication and their symptoms are improving. A mask should still be worn through the 10th day after testing positive, according to the guidelines.

Many states and cities already have loosened restrictions and abandoned measures such as social distancing as the country has started moving past the pandemic after two and a half years.

In Pennsylvania, schools already look primed to ease last year's masking restrictions. Masking requirements were already lifted earlier this year in parts of the state where outbreaks had been most significant, including Philadelphia. Lifting the requirement of masks on public transit lines like SEPTA, and at Philadelphia and Pittsburgh sports stadiums both indoors and out, paved the way for a more marked return to normalcy.

Moreover, most numbers are moving in the right direction, with a statewide positivity rate dropping over the past week from 17.3 to 17.2 percent, and total cases decreasing from 17,182 to 16,652.

Greta Massetti, a senior epidemiologist with the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and an author of the guidelines, noted the country is better equipped to protect people and communities from severe illness from COVID-19.

“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,” Massetti said.

An estimated 95 percent of Americans have some level of immunity from COVID-19, either from vaccination or infection, Massetti told reporters.

Schools could see the biggest change in COVID-19 restrictions as students will be able to stay in the classroom if they have been exposed to the virus but not tested positive. The CDC also ended its recommendation for routine daily testing, though it can be reinstated in situations with a surge of infections, the agency said.

The CDC guidelines align with the idea that children should be in the classroom, an objective that “can be done safely with acceptable levels of risk,” Dr. Richard Besser, a pediatrician and president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, told NBC News.

**Localize here with school-specific restrictions for your state and/or comments from state education officials**

The CDC continues to recommend masks only in areas where community transmission is deemed high or if a person is considered at high risk of severe illness.

Masks will be optional in most school districts when classes resume in the fall as schools across the country attempt to return to pre-pandemic norms. Los Angeles Unified School District announced earlier this month it was ending weekly asymptomatic testing. Some of the largest public school districts in the country, including those in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston, have made masks optional over the past few months.

The CDC will announce updated guidelines for health care settings and high-risk congregate settings “in the coming weeks,” officials said.