US government health officials will issue a clarification on the role of Covid-19 testing related to a shortened five-day quarantine period for those testing positive for the virus, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has said, according to Reuters.

Murthy told CNN he expected the federal Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to issue the clarification in the next couple of days but did not elaborate.

“They have certainly received feedback and questions about the role of testing in shortening that quarantine period and they're actually working right now on issuing a clarification on that,” Murthy told CNN. “They're going to speak to the role that testing can play in a situation like reducing isolation.”