How to Live With Covid, Not for It

The battle against Covid-19 is entering a new phase, and the choice for society is whether to live with the virus or to live for it.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance last month that contacts of persons with Covid-19 "Do not necessarily" need testing if they are asymptomatic.

Early testing among those infected with the virus may yield false negatives, and testing vulnerable adults and their contacts is far more valuable than testing healthy young adults.

The CDC now recommends focusing tests where they are likely to yield the greatest public-health benefits.

A wiser investment would focus on protecting vulnerable populations, including older teachers, family members and essential employees, by directing testing and personal protective equipment to them and their close contacts.

The CDC's quarantine guidelines for healthy, low-risk students should be revisited in light of the outsize effect quarantines have on their educational experience-and the possibility of perpetual quarantining for exposed students if testing is performed frequently.

It requires only abandoning fear, being sensible about who is targeted for testing and protections, expanding treatment capacity and therapies-and choosing to live with the virus, rather than to live for it.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-live-with-covid-not-for-it-11600271921