Delta Asks CDC to Consider Latest Scientific Data to Shorten COVID-19 Isolation Period

Dec. 22, 2021

Delta CEO Ed Bastian, Chief Health Officer Dr. Henry Ting and the airline’s medical advisor Dr. Carlos Del Rio, Distinguished Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine, co-signed a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday asking the agency to reconsider its current COVID-19 isolation guidance. The request comes after analysis by medical experts of data that indicates the omicron variant has a shorter incubation and infectious period among those who are fully vaccinated against the virus.

In the letter to the CDC, Bastian and Dr. Ting and Dr. Del Rio joined other medical professionals in proposing a shortened isolation period from 10-days to five days for fully vaccinated people who are experiencing a breakthrough infection.