Biden Tests Positive For Covid. What Are The Latest Coronavirus Guidelines?

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Washington Post

President Joe Biden tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday, placing a renewed spotlight on COVID-19 and the precautions the broader public can take as a summer wave of the disease sweeps over much of the United States.

In a statement, the White House said Biden is experiencing mild symptoms and plans to self-isolate at his home in Rehoboth, Delaware, while continuing to work.

The president, who previously tested positive for the coronavirus in 2022, told reporters he was "doing well” after landing at Dover Air Force Base late Wednesday.

Coronavirus levels in wastewater were considered high or very high in 26 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week, but the nation's approach to the pandemic has evolved significantly over the years - meaning it can be difficult to determine how best to stay safe. Here's what to know.

What are the current CDC guidelines?

When sick with symptoms of a respiratory virus, such as the coronavirus,the CDC advises individuals to stay home and isolate until both their overall symptoms have improved and they have been fever-free without using fever-reducing medication for 24 hours.

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For five days after that, it recommends taking extra precautions such as wearing a mask, improving air circulation, physical distancing and testing. The CDC also recommends taking these precautions if Covid is circulating widely in the community.

Staying up to date with coronavirus vaccines "significantly lowers the risk of getting very sick, being hospitalized, or dying from Covid-19,” the CDC says. The current vaccine offers some protection against the latest variants and an updated vaccine is expected in the late summer or fall.

What specific advice do health care professionals have for senior citizens?

While doctors are seeing far fewer hospitalizations for Covid, "older individuals remain at the highest risk” and "still can get quite ill,” Tara Vijayan, an infectious diseases specialist at UCLA Health, wrote in an email, noting that taking antivirals early and getting vaccinated can mitigate that risk.

If an older adult tests positive, Vijayan recommends considering taking Paxlovid, which President Biden took Wednesday, or molnupiravir, which may have similar benefits.

For older adults looking to protect themselves, Vijayan said it is reasonable to consider masking indoors, especially in crowded or poorly ventilated spaces. She emphasized, however, that close family members are "by far the most common source” of infection.

Vijayan encourages relatives of older adults to take a test if they have signs of an upper respiratory tract infection and stay away from older family members until they are no longer contagious - typically 10 days from symptom onset.

She also recommended older adults get a second dose of the current coronavirus vaccine, if they have not, and the updated vaccine when it is available.

What are the current coronavirus variants and how prevalent are they?

These days, most cases are caused by new variants called FLiRT and LB.1, which are more effective than their predecessors at infecting people who have some immunity from vaccines or previous infections. The new variants do not seem to cause more severe infections and deaths.

Preeti Malani, an infectious-diseases physician at the University of Michigan, told The Washington Post earlier this month that the "clinical difference is minor, if any.”

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