The Virginia Department of Health is redefining the length of time a COVID-19 infection can be considered “recent,” diverging from the definition used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The length of time since infection is important because it factors into whether a person should quarantine after becoming exposed to another with the disease. Quarantining can impact the number of students appearing in school or a day care’s ability to remain open.
Under the new guidance, a person who contracted COVID in the past six months has a recent infection, State Health Commissioner Colin Greene announced Thursday. The CDC defines a recent infection as one occurring within the past three months.
A person vaccinated or having a recent infection doesn’t need to quarantine following an exposure.
“It is time to revisit some of our practices for groups that are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease, especially those whose side effect is a significant limitation of access to day care, school or work,” Greene said.
People are also reading…
Infections and quarantining caused an increased number of school absences this past winter.
In high-risk environments, such as hospitals, long-term care facilities, correctional facilities and homeless shelters, the state health department still advises people to follow the CDC’s three-month guideline.
Generally, the Virginia Department of Health has followed CDC guidelines for COVID. Greene, nominated by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, became the department’s leader in January.
After assuming office, Youngkin reversed multiple COVID policies made by the previous governor, Ralph Northam, working to make masks optional in schools and making vaccines optional for state employees, college students and most businesses.
It’s unclear what triggered the change in policy Thursday and why the state is diverging from the CDC. Greene was traveling and unable to answer questions about the announcement, a department spokesperson said.
As new variants emerge, experts’ understanding of reinfection has evolved. Before the omicron variant, reinfection was uncommon.
But according to recent studies, reinfection from different omicron subvariants can occur in a few months or a few weeks. Generally, second infections are less severe than first infections.
The level of immunity gained by a recent infection is hard to predict, the CDC has said. Patients who were hospitalized with COVID had better immunity than patients with moderate symptoms. There isn’t enough data to determine the level of response from mild or asymptomatic cases.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines generally provide a better initial immune response than previous infection, but vaccine immunity wanes significantly over time, according to a University of Virginia study. It’s unclear how much immunity is needed to ward off disease.
A combination of vaccination and infection might provide the strongest immunity, experts say.
More than 75% of children and 90% of adults have some protection from COVID either from vaccination or previous infection, the CDC estimates.
