TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – The CDC released new guidelines loosening its COVID-19 restrictions.
People exposed to the virus no longer have to isolate. However, the CDC still recommends that you stay home and isolate for five days if you test positive for the virus.
The release of these new guidelines come at a time where COVID-19 fatigue is at its highest and continues to rise. Masking and social distancing is a rare sight in many aspects of society.
“I think that everybody is pretty much over it by now,” Vigo County resident Tara Bach said.
Bach is one of many who is experiencing COVID-19 fatigue. She has a personal connection as she said that she’s lost numerous jobs over the past two years because COVID-19 layoffs by companies.
It’s now been over two years since the beginning of the pandemic which seems nearly an eternity ago. That pre-pandemic society that seems so long ago is one that Bach would like to experience again.
“Everybody’s so stuck on COVID,” Bach explained. “I think we need to go back to an upbeat society where there’s laughter and joy and everybody’s not stressed out.”
Health officials suggest that these new COVID-19 guidelines released by the CDC could entail a pathway to a potential new normal.
However, Knox County Health Officer Dr. Alan Stewart said that these loosened guidelines are being put into place too soon. His county has 510 active COVID-19 cases and he said that these guidelines may be too soon of change.
“The CDC guidelines I think are trying to address the fact that people have vaccine fatigue,” Stewart said.
Stewart doesn’t expect to see a surge of COVID-19 cases, but he suggested that case counts could still remain at very high levels.
He mentioned that its likely that COVID-19 is on a path of being in an endemic stage similar to the influenza. This is where a disease is ever present in society, but is not usually deadly.
