An article at on NJ.com — the online web presence of the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger — shows some interesting things:
“U.S. health officials on Monday cut isolation restrictions for Americans who catch the coronavirus from 10 to five days, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine.
“Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said the guidance is in keeping with growing evidence that people with the coronavirus are most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptoms develop.”
*Growing* evidence? Not definitive evidence? Doesn’t sound scientific to me. It’s the scientific method, but it’s not remotely close to scientific proof.
“The decision also was driven by a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, propelled by the omicron variant.”
More people are getting sick, therefore, we should make them work while they’re sick, and still test positive for COVID-19, because of a non-definitive idea that they’re less contagious and a presumption that they have the Omicron variant instead of Delta or the other strains.
But here’s the meat of the matter:
“Early research suggests omicron may cause milder illnesses than earlier versions of the coronavirus. But the sheer number of people becoming infected — and therefore having to isolate or quarantine — threatens to crush the ability of hospitals, airlines and other businesses to stay open, experts say.
“CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the country is about to see a lot of omicron cases.
“‘Not all of those cases are going to be severe. In fact many are going to be asymptomatic,’ she told The Associated Press on Monday. ‘We want to make sure there is a mechanism by which we can safely continue to keep society functioning while following the science.’”
Translation: with an excuse that there is unproven (“growing”, “early”) evidence for milder illnesses and less contagiousness with Omicron than other variants of COVID-19, the CDC is caving to business — especially airlines — and has declared that the health of the average American is of no consequence to them.
