Following new guidelines that were released by the Centers for Disease Control on Monday, the NFL and the NFL Players Association have decided to shorten the isolation time to five days for players who test positive for COVID-19. While the rule applies to both vaccinated and unvaccinated players, it will only come into effect if the player is asymptomatic or proves to have reducing symptoms over the five-day period.
NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills explained during a press conference on Tuesday night that the decision to shorten the COVID isolation time has been backed up by the NFL’s data, which supports the CDC’s recent guidelines announcement.
Sills explained that it’s the CDC’s assessment that people are at a lower risk of spreading the virus five days after their initial positive test. That mirrors what they have been seeing and why they’re supportive and eager to implement this change.
Prior to the new agreement, the NFL required players to produce a negative test in order to exit isolation. This changed, however, after testing proved to be less useful against the omicron strain.
