US health officials recommend halving Covid isolation period

The decision was also driven by a recent surge in Covid-19 cases, propelled by the Omicron variant

People wait in line to get tested for Covid-19 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York (Brittainy Newman/AP)

US health officials have cut isolation restrictions for Americans who catch coronavirus from 10 days to five, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine.

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials said the guidance is in keeping with growing evidence that people with coronavirus are most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptoms develop.