Health officials considering shortening quarantine for healthcare workers

WASHINGTON – Dr. Anthony Fauci and other top health authorities in the United States are thinking about reducing the length of the recommended 10-day quarantine for asymptomatic healthcare workers who test positive for the virus.

This consideration comes as the omicron variant surges across the country, and healthcare facilities face overwhelming challenges with staffing.

"We want to be careful that we don’t keep them out of action for that long period of time," Fauci told NBC News Tuesday, "so there’s at least consideration … of diminishing the quarantine time to get them back to work safely."

The omicron variant has now surpassed the delta variant in number of cases, and as of Friday it was to blame for 73% of all new cases in the United States.

As of now, the recommended quarantine period is still 10 days.