From the Editor: Retraction issued over opinion piece about coronavirus and CDC guidelines
Dear readers,
This morning, I made the editorial decision to retract an opinion piece titled “OPINION: Perspective — There is a safe and specific way to stay social with coronavirus,” which was published the evening of Oct. 13.
I greatly value all of our opinion writers’ experiences and perspectives.
This morning, however, it was brought to my attention that this piece erroneously misrepresented the CDC guidelines for people previously infected with coronavirus who are exposed to COVID-19 again and their quarantine requirements that follow.
In the event of a factual error in any news or opinion piece, we normally will run an editor’s note at the top stating precisely what was updated to better reflect the facts. In this situation, however, too much of the piece was prefaced on the misrepresented CDC guidelines, which warranted a retraction.
According to the CDC website, “Anyone who has had close contact with someone with COVID-19 should stay home for 14 days after their last exposure to that person. However, anyone who has had close contact with someone with COVID-19 and who meets the following criteria does not need to stay home. [The criteria includes a person who] had COVID-19 illness within the previous three months, has recovered and remains without COVID-19 symptoms (for example, cough, shortness of breath).”
As of Oct. 14, these are the official CDC recommendations in regard to quarantine requirements for individuals who have previously contracted COVID-19 and then are exposed to the virus again.
As we’ve seen over the course of the pandemic, the situation is constantly developing and changing.
While The New Political does not censor our opinion writers, as a news organization, we also have a responsibility to minimize harm whenever possible. Although this opinion writer was only speaking in regard to their personal experience, I would not want what we publish to contribute to what is already a sizable outbreak in Athens County.
I apologize to our readership. We will do better going forward.
