Relaxed CDC Covid Guidelines Seen as Boost for Return to the Workplace

Federal health officials’ move this week to relax pandemic precautions gave business leaders the momentum many have been looking for to return to pre-Covid behaviors. The new guidelines, issued Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, generally bring the federal guidance in line with policies that had already shifted at companies, schools and public transportation, among other settings. The agency said it no longer recommends that people quarantine after being exposed to the virus, as long as they don’t feel sick, get tested after five days and wear a high-quality mask around others for 10 days. Many executives and city leaders who had been struggling to break pandemic work-from-home habits see this as a boost to their halting efforts to bring people back into the workplace. They say that previous CDC recommendations made it difficult to enforce their policies, since one exposure could send an entire team home.