On March 1, 2024, the CDC updated and simplified guidance for how people can protect themselves and their communities from respiratory viruses, including COVID-19. The CDC reports that the new guidance brings a unified approach to addressing risks from a range of common respiratory viral illnesses, such as COVID-19, flu, and RSV.  The updated and simplified guidance is as follows:

• When people get sick with a respiratory virus, the updated guidance recommends that you stay home and away from others. The CDC recommendation suggest returning to normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, symptoms are improving overall, and if a fever was present, it has been gone without use of a fever-reducing medication.
• Once you resume normal activities, you are encouraged to take additional prevention strategies for the next 5 days to curb disease spread, such as taking more steps for cleaner air, enhancing hygiene practices, wearing a well-fitting mask, keeping a distance from others, and/or getting tested for respiratory viruses.

More information about this change as well as updated guidance for people who are higher risk of severe illness from respiratory viruses can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/p0301-respiratory-virus.html

This updated guidance is intended for community settings. There are no changes to respiratory virus guidance for healthcare settings.