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Covid is all over the world because of asymptomatic spread, so whether they're symptomatic is not a reliable way to know whether anyone is contagious. Isolating for 14 days from when symptoms started is safe, or 19 days if they used Paxlovid.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/isolation.html
CDC says you can stop isolating as soon as your symptoms start improving if it's at least 5 days after you first got symptoms. You also need to be fever-free for 24 hours. You can also stop isolating after you get a negative covid test.
This is all for individuals, there's no household advice. This is also all from the CDC so take that for what it's worth.
Wasn't the the decision to move the isolation period from 10 to 5 days not at all based on any science, but an effort to capitulate to lobbying from the airline industry, among other things?
10 to 5 days
The previous recommendation was 14 days before revising it in the interest of capital, and 14 is still a good estimate. Really, though, you should wait until your rapid tests are no longer negative. Also, only swabbing the back of your throat after not eating for 30 minutes will yield consistent result, nose swabbing is nearly pointless ever since omicron (since the virus resides in your throat now, not lungs).
If you use Paxlovid (which you should), you should isolate for an additional 5 days, since your COVID infection is not active while you're taking it. Anecdotally speaking, my parents got COVID, isolated for 2 weeks (which included 5 days of Paxlovid), then traveled again immediately at then end of week 2 and gave COVID to more family members (then they isolated after getting back, because their rapid tests were positive for an additional week).
So, 19 days with Paxlovid
Longer quarantine and longer dangerous infectious period - the benefit is that paxlovid reduces the likelihood of a serious case?
I'm curious because I got COVID a few months ago and was prescribed paxlovid, but I never took it because I was afraid of exactly what you described (along with the other side effects)
longer dangerous infectious period
For the 5 days you're taking Paxlovid, give or take, you're not contagious (you'll test negative on a rapid test). So it's the same total number of days you're contagious, just with a small break in the middle.
along with the other side effects
The side effects of COVID are far worse, I don't know why anyone would ever pick COVID over Paxlovid. Unless I'm misunderstanding you, anti-vaxxers also make argument you're making, but instead about why everyone should skip the vaccine.
Don't get me wrong, I have gotten 4 shots, mask up and everything. By the time I got my hands on paxlovid my symptoms just weren't that bad, so I was afraid the risk of reinfection or accidentally infecting someone else would outweigh reducing my moderate symptoms.
I'm genuinely asking in good faith, and probably being a little intellectually lazy by not researching the issue on my own before asking. But I'm just curious if even in that milder case, or in people without exacerbating factors, paxlovid is still considered to be the gold standard of treatment
Paxlovid is not on the same level as vaccines; its benefit-cost ratio is not worth it 100% of the cases. It is an effective medicine that can significantly reduce risk of hospitalization, but a blanket recommendation is not good advice.
