Omicron wave
How useful is a shortened quarantine for infected people?
In the USA, people infected with corona without symptoms will only have to go into isolation for five days in the future – in Germany, weighing is still going on
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Five days instead of the previous ten – that is how long asymptomatic infected people in the USA will have to be in quarantine in the future. A shorter period of time is also being discussed in Germany. Is brief isolation a good idea? Experts are still reporting doubts.
Corona infected people in the USA will have to stay at home for five days and then consistently wear a mask for five days – provided they have no symptoms. The new period is much shorter than the previous requirement, according to which infected people must remain in isolation for ten days. The US Disease Control Agency CDC, which the new rule launched this week, refers to scientific findings: According to this, the majority of infections occur in the one to two days before the onset of symptoms or in the following two to three days. Logically, within five days, the greatest risk of infection would be eliminated.
Those infected with symptoms such as fever are not affected by these considerations. You must continue to stay at home until the symptoms go away.
The updated recommendation can also be seen in the light of the rapid spread of the particularly contagious variant of the omicron: It is currently causing the number of cases in many US states, including New York and Florida, to skyrocket. At the same time, there is growing concern about the collapse of critical infrastructure, including the fire service, water and electricity supply, and healthcare. If too many people are sick or in quarantine at the same time, certain critical areas could no longer be maintained due to staff shortages, so the fear. Shortened quarantine orders could prevent this.
In Germany, too, a shortened quarantine time is being discussed in view of Omikron. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) wants to have them checked at least for contact persons of corona infected people, as the news magazine “Spiegel” reported. Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) also got involved in the discussion: He believes that an exemption from quarantine requirements for boosted contacts is conceivable, as he told the news portal Watson.
Risk of infection with Omikron: Many questions are still open
Omikron infected people and their contact persons should be kept in isolation or quarantine in Germany for 14 days. It is currently recommended by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). The recommendation also includes recovered and vaccinated contact persons and is therefore stricter than, for example, with the virus variant Delta. It also plays a role that Omikron is a new, worrying variant that is currently only spreading in Germany.
At the request of the star the RKI expressed cautiously whether a shortening for corona infected people and contact persons was currently planned: All recommendations would be “continuously” checked and adjusted “if necessary”, said the RKI. “In general, however, we cannot speculate whether, when and in which direction recommendations will be changed.”
Among other things, the decisive question is when and for how long people infected with Omikron are contagious. According to some researchers, there is still too little data to justify such a significant shortage as was decided this week in the USA. The medicine professor Eric Topol criticized on Twitter the 5-day quarantine period for asymptomatic infected people without subsequent free testing. He posted a white picture and wrote that his post would show the data that supported the update. His message: There are none.
Even the professor of virology at the Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, Wolfgang Preiser, has no studies that investigate the question of when people infected with Omicron are most contagious, as he said in a conversation with “Tagesschau.de“explained. He therefore does not assess the shortened quarantine in the USA as a reaction to new scientific findings, but as an adjustment to the current situation. In the opinion of the virologist, however, a shorter infectious phase can be expected with Omikron:” A shorter infectious one Period should be the rule because many already have basic immunity – either through a vaccination or after an infection. ”
The currently valid 14-day recommendation in Germany is viewed as a very safe option. After the deadline, infection is virtually impossible in the vast majority of cases. However, it is questionable whether the maximum regulation is still practicable if Omikron continues to spread in the coming weeks, the number of cases will rise sharply – and with it the number of people in isolation or in quarantine.
Among other things, it shows what effects the recommendation can have a current example from Henstedt-Ulzburg: Around 820 club guests have to be in quarantine for 14 days because a person infected with Omikron was among the celebrants.
Spain and Great Britain are taking a middle course
Other countries have also revised their recommendations in view of Omikron, albeit less drastically than the USA. In Spain, infected people without symptoms should henceforth be in isolation for seven days, as well as unvaccinated contact persons. Previously, ten days were required. Great Britain has also recently adjusted the quarantine regulations and added an additional security hurdle compared to Spain: infected people only have to be in isolation for seven days if two rapid antigen tests on day 6 and day 7 show a negative result.
It is a “compromise” solution, the virologist Richard Tedder classified the updated UK recommendation. It is based on the assumption that a previously infected person who no longer secretes viral proteins is unlikely to be able to transmit the coronavirus to contact persons. At the same time, he warned against a false sense of security through improperly carried out tests. Also, people who take immune-inhibiting drugs may still shed the virus for a longer period of time.
It is expected that the topic will play an important role at the upcoming Prime Minister’s Conference on January 7th.