‘We should all be outraged’: Ontario scraps 5-day COVID-19 isolation rule

Protocols around COVID-19 are loosening in Ontario, with the province’s top doctor announcing a shortened window for isolation after testing positive for the virus.

At a news conference on Wednesday to announce expansion of booster eligibility for kids between the ages of five and 11, Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, added that Ontarians won’t have to follow a mandatory five-day isolation period after testing positive for COVID-19.

Moore explained if someone tests positive for COVID-19 (or has another respiratory virus) and shows to have improving symptoms 24 hours after first getting sick, they can return to work, or school, but high-risk places like long-term care homes should be avoided.

“This approach should decrease the risk of all respiratory viruses in our communities,” he said.

Moore also indicated that the province has moved out of its “crisis phase” of COVID-19 and has turned into something that will need long-term management.

Many people on Twitter, including some health experts, were shocked by the change in guidance for isolating after a COVID-19 infection.