The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to make changes in COVID-isolation guidelines, possibly as soon as April.

The changes, first reported by the Washington Post, will put an end to the recommendation that people with COVID quarantine for five days. Instead, people with mild or improving symptoms would be able to exit isolation if they are fever-free for at least 24 hours. The changes would not apply to hospitals or other healthcare settings with vulnerable populations.

According to reports by Yahoo, the changes are being made due to three reasons: JN.1, the current dominant variant nationwide, doesn’t appear to be causing more severe illness; increased hybrid immunity from vaccinations and exposure to the virus; and concerns people weren’t following isolation guidelines to begin with.

COVID isolation guidelines have not been updated since December 2021 when isolation time was slashed from 10 to 5 days. It’s believed the virus is most transmissible in the first two days before symptoms start and the two to three days after they appear.

Currently, COVID isolation can end after five days if the person has no symptoms or if the symptoms are improving and you’ve been fever-free for 24 hours. If not, or if you’ve had more severe symptoms such as shortness of breath or were hospitalized, it’s recommended you continue with isolation.