CDC considering testing guidelines for the asymptomatic, Fauci says

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering adding testing requirements to its new isolation guidelines for asymptomatic Covid-19 patients, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday.

The CDC shortened its isolation recommendations from 10 days to five last week for people who have tested positive for Covid but show no symptoms. Fauci, President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, said the agency is debating adding to its guidance.

"The CDC is very well aware that there has been some pushback about that," Fauci said Sunday on ABC News' "This Week." "Looking at it again, there may be an option in that, that testing could be a part of that."

It's unclear whether positive tests would require further isolation or whether asymptomatic patients would be free to move about as long as they're masked.

Just last week, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC's director, said new guidelines don’t require testing at the end of isolation because PCR tests for Covid can be positive for up to 12 weeks, long after people are no longer infectious.

“We also don’t know that antigen testing is a good indication of transmissibility at this stage of infection,” she said at a White House briefing. “On the other hand, we know that after five days, people are much less likely to transmit the virus and that masking further reduces the risk.”  ...