New data suggests that people with the Omicron variant frequently stay infectious for longer than five days, raising concerns about the CDC’s updated isolation guidelines.

Why it matters: Experts say the issue could be resolved by using rapid tests to determine whether it is safe to exit isolation, but the CDC has not recommended a negative test as a condition to end isolation.

Driving the news: A new study of NBA players and staff — which has yet to be peer-reviewed — found that a large percentage of Omicron-infected people still had viral loads over a certain threshold five days after their first positive test.

The study used this threshold as a proxy for infectiousness and for triggering a positive antigen test.