The Trump administration Wednesday announced that health workers and other essential employees who have been exposed to the coronavirus will be allowed to go back to work instead of quarantining for 14 days.

CDC Director Robert Redfield announced the new guidance during a White House press briefing, noting that his agency is no longer advising essential workforce employees to quarantine after they've been exposed to the virus — an effort to address workforce shortages.


First responders and health care workers across the country had previously been off the job isolating for two weeks — the estimated period in which an individual can develop symptoms — after being within 6 feet of a coronavirus patient. That stricter guidance has significantly squeezed the front-line workforce.