Wisconsin health department adopts CDC recommendation for shorter quarantine after COVID-19 exposure

(FOX 9) - The Wisconsin Department of Health Services says it will follow suit with the CDC guidance for shorter quarantines for people exposed to COVID-19.

Starting next week, the state says people who've been in close contact with COVID-19 patients will only need to quarantine for ten days, if the person shows no symptoms, rather than previous recommendations for two weeks.

In a statement, Wisconsin DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm says the change is a move to hopefully balance feasibility with safety.

"For many, there may be barriers that make quarantining for a full 14 days extremely challenging,” said Palm. "While a shorter quarantine carries additional risk of spreading COVID-19, when done responsibly, it can make quarantining easier for more Wisconsinites."

In Minnesota, health leaders have not yet decided whether they will issue recommendations for state residents to follow the guidance.

Friday, Wisconsin reported 63 new deaths and 4,847 new cases from COVID-19. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been more than 400,000 cases in Wisconsin with 3,625 new deaths and 337,653 patients listed as recovered.