The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) released updated guidance outlining recommendations for work restriction for healthcare personnel related to respiratory viruses. LeadingAge has vigorously advocated for such guidance for years. The guidance replaces the Interim Guidance for Managing Healthcare Personnel with SARS-CoV-2 Infection or Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 previously used for work restrictions for healthcare personnel exposed to or infected with COVID-19.

The new guidance is based on recommendations from CDC’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC), approved during the Committee’s last meeting in November 2024 before it was disbanded in March 2025. The new guidance applies to respiratory illnesses “not addressed elsewhere” in CDC guidance, including flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and COVID-19. According to this guidance, asymptomatic healthcare personnel who have been exposed to a respiratory illness do not need to be restricted from work but should wear source control from the day of first exposure through at least the fifth day after exposure. Healthcare personnel with a suspected or confirmed viral respiratory infection should be restricted from work until all four conditions are met:

• At least three days have passed since symptom onset (or first positive test, for asymptomatic infections),
• The individual is fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications,
• Symptoms are improving, and
• The individual feels well enough to return to work.

Testing to determine the specific respiratory illness is not required; however, CDC recommends following guidance specific to the respiratory pathogen should the individual opt for testing. LeadingAge is very pleased to see this updated guidance after years of advocacy and urges CDC to similarly update transmission-based precautions for healthcare settings and retire outdated guidance for SARS-CoV-2 infections among patients in healthcare settings, including residents in nursing homes.