WISH-TV medical expert offers COVID guidance as CDC relaxes guidelines
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Anyone who gets the coronavirus should still isolate until the symptoms of COVID are gone, says WISH-TV Medical Expert Dr. Janel Gordon.
Gordon says she was expecting the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would end its recommendation that people who test positive for COVID-19 isolate for five days.
“If you are not feeling well, you’re coughing significantly, you have a high fever, you need to stay home. If you don’t have a fever but only because you are taking medications around the clock, you should not be going back to work, and, for the employers, they need to be understanding that you want your workforce to be well,” she said.
It’s been almost four years since the coronavirus caused the country to go into a full lockdown, but the virus isn’t gone. Since the beginning of this year, 357 Hoosiers have died from COVID-19.
Gordon said, “COVID is not going away. It’s going to be here for the long haul like many of the other respiratory viruses that we see; however, we do know that cases are down. Unfortunately though, we are seeing people dying.”
People with vulnerable immune systems can still have severe COVID symptoms. Gordon urges people over age 65 to keep up to date on their COVID boosters.
“If people have COVID and they have mild symptoms, they do not have a fever, they are able to return to work, then use your best judgment. I would still consider masking, especially considering what type of workforce or work setting you’re in.”
A spokesperson for the Marion County Health Department told News 8 the agency is still reviewing the new CDC guidelines and will talk with local hospitals about how to protect immunocompromised and vulnerable populations.
The Indiana Department of Health told News 8 Monday that there are not any Indiana-specific COVID-19 guidelines.