CDC director sends holiday warning: Stay home if you’re sick

The director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) told people to stay home if they are sick in a holiday message Friday.

“We continue to see a lot of respiratory illness right now. Flu, COVID and RSV are spreading in most of the country,” Mandy Cohen said in a Friday video posted to the CDC’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“And as we gather with family and friends this time of year, I want to give you a few reminders,” Cohen continued. “I know it’s hard, but if you’re feeling sick, please stay home. Avoid spreading germs to others, especially your loved ones who are at higher risk of getting very sick. Also, get tested, so you know what you have and can get treatment.”

On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified a variant of the coronavirus, JN.1, as a “variant of interest.” However, it also said the variant wasn’t a large threat to public health.

“Based on the available evidence, the additional global public health risk posed by JN.1 is currently evaluated as low,” WHO said.

The WHO still warned that as winter arrives in the Northern Hemisphere, the variant “could increase the burden of respiratory infections in many countries.” The CDC has also said JN.1 is probably more transmissible but, like the WHO, said the general public health hazard is low.

“At this time, there is no evidence that JN.1 presents an increased risk to public health relative to other currently circulating variants,” the agency said in its most recent update on Dec. 8.

Eighteen percent of adults got the most recent COVID-19 vaccine and the CDC has said that hospitalizations in all age groups are going up.

“Millions of people may get sick in the next month or two, and low vaccination rates means more people will get more severe disease,” the agency said