A group of “long COVID” patients and activists are planning a march in Washington, D.C., to protest the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recent guidelines for the virus.
The move comes after the CDC officially dropped its recommendation for people to isolate for five days after a positive COVID test last week.
Unlike their previous guidelines, the agency instructs people to stay home if they are sick, but when they’re feeling better and have been fever-free for 24 hours, they can return to school or work.
“LC/DC is fighting to raise awareness about long COVID, and we recognize that reducing the isolation policy will result in more infections, long-term illnesses and disability,” Paul Hennessy said, one of the three main organizers of the planned event.
“Our main objection is that it’s not based on a period of infectiousness, but false assumptions,” Hennessy said.
“The CDC has admitted that COVID can be contagious for over 10 days,” he continued. “The CDC’s job should not be to negotiate with a deadly airborne pathogen, but to give the best proper guidance.”
In 2020, the agency recommended a 10-day isolation period for people with COVID.
LC/DC, which describes itself as non-partisan, is planning the protest at the Lincoln Memorial on March 15.
“It’s not lost on us that the CDC has made this decision during an election year,” Hennessy said. “We’re not sure if this decision is political, but we do know from our research and standpoint that this was done arbitrarily and is more grounded in connivance than fact.”
