Heartland residents react to loosening of COVID-19 guidelines

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) - The Centers for disease Control and Prevention loosened COVID-19 guidelines Thursday.

Some people in Cape Girardeau said they believe it’s time to make changes. Others expressed they want to be careful.

“I think it’ll be alright at this point to move forward. Hopefully people continue to get vaccinated and bolstered,” Caitlin McCready, one woman, said.

“It’s good because we are getting back into normal life, but we’ve also got to be careful because we don’t want to spread it around too much. It’s still a risk,” Kelsey Mathenia, another woman, said.

Here are a few new recommendations, according to the CDC:

The agency changed their recommendation for people to stay 6-feet apart, or quarantine after they are exposed to the virus. Also, students that were possibly exposed to COVID don’t have to test negative regularly to remain in class.

“In some ways, I think we’ve given up, so we’re just going to have to learn to live with this,” Hamner Hill, one man, said.

Hill said he thinks the new guidelines are too much too soon.

The CDC states, “We have a better understanding of how to protect people from being exposed to the virus, like wearing high quality masks, testing, and improved ventilation.”

However, Hill still believes the change is risky.

“Being careful is just part of our routine, of course that’s because we had to be careful and now when you take away the requirements, I doubt people will be as careful as they have been,” he said.

Regardless of pushback, others shared they are not opposed to the new guidelines sticking around.

“It’s been three years, I think everyone is a little ready to move forward at this point,” McCready said.

Copyright 2022 KFVS. All rights reserved.