The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its coronavirus pandemic guidelines on Thursday.
The agency dropped the advisory that Americans quarantine themselves if they come into the vicinity of a person infected with the virus. Plus, the CDC said people no longer had to distance themselves from others by at least 6 feet.
Agency officials said the changes have been because an estimated 95% of Americans 16 and older have acquired some level of immunity, either through vaccination or infection, The Associated Press reported.
“The current conditions of this pandemic are very different from those of the last two years,” Greta Massetti, who authored the CDC guidelines, said AP reported.
The agency terminated its “test-to-stay” recommendation, which said students exposed to the virus could regularly test — instead of quarantined at home — to keep attending classes. Because there is no quarantining mandate, the testing option no longer applies.
Masks will be recommended only in areas of high community transmission or if a person is considered at high risk of severe illness. The CDC continues to encourage people eligible to be vaccinated and boosted to do so.