Many of us are aware of COVID-19 but are mostly living as we always did before the pandemic. The CDC announced today that they have Dropped the 5-day rule that was designed to reduce the spread of the virus. This is wonderful as the CDC which makes health policy for the country is acknowledging that the virus is no longer a problem for the average American. As we have reached community immunity, and many of us have also been vaccinated, even the wearing of masks for most is a thing of the past. How does this affect you? Eating well, living a healthy lifestyle, and making sure you are vitamin D deficient help your body fight many infections naturally. Not wearing masks does this as well unless you have a cold, mask-wearing can protect others around you. Our immune system under normal circumstances has evolved over thousands of years to help us maintain immunity from most of the things we come in contact with. As we are constantly being micro-dosed all the time, our immune system is constantly learning how to develop resistance to many of these particles in the background. This may be why the two winters people began to unmasked caused cold and flu seasons that were worse than normal and it may also have been why the CDC had maintained the 5 days for so long. Unmasking is healthier for us. A properly functioning immune system will protect you from most viruses and bacteria for years to come. If you have covid 19, you have a cold. Just because we know the name of the virus, you no longer have to stop your life and isolate. You should wear a mask to help prevent others from getting the cold. You should consider doing this even if you think your symptoms are allergies as sometimes we can mistake an allergy for a cold. Many common colds are coronaviruses, of which COVID-19 was one of them. The same goes for the flu or any of the many viruses we are all exposed to daily. Perhaps, the CDC recommendations of maintaining caution even though we do not require 5 days of isolation is a sensible conclusion of how we handle this or most viruses. The official CDC language is as follows If you have symptoms, stay home until your symptoms are mild and improving and it’s been a day since you've had a fever. But then you can remain cautious by wearing a mask and keeping a distance from others. There is no change to guidelines for nursing homes and health care facilities, however. The agency is emphasizing that people should still try to prevent infections in the first place, by getting vaccinated, washing their hands, and taking steps to bring in more outdoor fresh air." As we are now entering the warmer weather, this should be less of a problem. Read more from the AP here regarding the CDC upgraded recommendations here.