People who test positive for covid-19 only need to isolate for five days as long as their symptoms have stopped. The change to isolation guidelines from 10 days to five is based on data showing people with covid-19 are most likely to be contagious to others.

After leaving isolation, people should wear a mask around others for five additional days, the CDC says. After leaving spines.

The CDC also said Monday that people who have n’t received a booster dose of a covid-19 vaccine should quarantine for five days if they’re exposed to someone with the disease. That’s a change from previous guidelines, which said people who are fully vaccinated do n’t need to quarantine if they have exposure to someone sick.

The United Kingdom also reduced its recommended isolation period to seven days. Health care workers only need to isolate for seven days if they test positive for the virus, as long as they’re asymptomatic and have a negative test on the seventh day.

Today’s new guidelines do not include a recommendation to take a test at the end of the five-day isolation period. Today’s guidelines from the CDC for the general public in the U.S. do n’t include recommendation for a test.

The highly contagious Omicron variant is driving unprecedented surges in covid-19 cases. In many places, more people are testing positive for the virus each day than ever before. The CDC faced pressure from various industries, including airlines, to shorten the isolation period.