In the fight against the health crisis in Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has set himself a goal: to find a balance between “public health” and “economic growth”. With this in mind, the government decided on Wednesday to reduce the duration of the quarantine of people positive for Covid-19 to 7 days against 10 previously.
This measure is also justified by the observation of “a lower incubation period for this variant (Omicron) compared to others” according to some experts, explained the Minister of Health Carolina Darias. This reduction in the isolation period only concerns people who are asymptomatic on the seventh day. Non-vaccinated contact cases, on the other hand, should always observe quarantine, also reduced on Wednesday from 10 to 7 days.
Some officials with Covid-19 will be able to work
The Spanish authorities had already recommended on December 21 to no longer impose a quarantine on fully vaccinated people who have been in close contact with people infected with the Omicron variant, but simply to limit their contact. Also with a view to limiting work stoppages, the Madrid city hall has decided that some of its officials will be able to work despite a positive test if their viral load, and therefore their contagiousness, is low enough.
The country shattered its record on Wednesday with 100,760 cases recorded in 24 hours. The previous wave of daily records was in mid-January and was nearly 40,000 cases.
Spain, faced like the rest of the world with the Omicron surge, is therefore joining the growing list of countries to reduce the length of the quarantine. Argentina reduced this from 10 to 7 days on Wednesday for positive people with a complete vaccination schedule, and to five days for asymptomatic contact cases, but vaccinated. In the United States, the duration of isolation was reduced on Monday from 10 to 5 days for asymptomatic people and from 14 to 5 for unvaccinated contact cases. Shortly before Christmas, the British government also reduced the period of isolation in England from 10 to 7 days for vaccinated people who contracted the virus.