Covid-19: a note from the Directorate General of Health extends the duration of isolation from 7 to 10 days

On February 19, the Directorate General for Health sent a note urgently to all health professionals announcing a reinforcement of the isolation and quarantine measures for infected people and risky contact cases, due to the spread of Covid-19 variants in the territory.

Thus, since February 22, the isolation period went to 10 days for those infected or symptomatic, whether it is Covid-19 or one of his variants. As a reminder, at the start of the epidemic, the duration of isolation was set at 14 days before being lowered to 7 days last September.

During his press conference on Thursday, February 18, Olivier Véran, the Minister of Health, explained this extension by the fact that “Some scientific studies suggest the possibility that the variants may be responsible for a longer duration of contagiousness than that of classic Covid-19 circulating until then in the country ».

The document specifies that the isolation period of 10 full days for confirmed cases and symptomatic cases runs:

• from the date of onset of symptoms with no fever on the 10th^e day. In case of persistent fever, this isolation must be maintained for 48 hours following the disappearance of the fever;
• from the day of the first positive sample (via antigen test or virological RT-PCR test) for confirmed asymptomatic cases. If symptoms suggestive of Covid-19 occur, the isolation period should be extended by 10 days from the date of onset of symptoms.

In addition, the note specifies that the end of the isolation period for symptomatic and asymptomatic people is not conditional on carrying out a control test, even in the event of contamination by a variant. However, they must respect the following rules: ” rigorous wearing of a surgical or general public mask with filtration greater than 90% and strict compliance with barrier measures and physical distancing during the 7 days following the [fin de l’isolement], by avoiding people at risk of severe form of Covid19, and by promoting teleworking as much as possible ».

About the contact cases, the duration of quarantine remains fixed at 7 days after the last contact with the confirmed or probable case. An antigen test should be performed immediately; in the event of a negative result, the person concerned will still have to go after the 7 days of isolation.

As for the lifting of the quarantine, different modalities apply for ” at-risk out-of-home contact cases ” and the ” at-risk household contacts » :

• at-risk contacts outside the home: the isolation period ends in the event of a negative test carried out on the 7th^e day after the last contact with the confirmed case and in the absence of symptoms suggestive of Covid-19. Children aged 6 to 11 and adults who have not taken a test at 7^e day, will have to remain in solitary confinement until 14^e day;
• at-risk contacts in the outbreak: for contact cases living under the same roof as an infected person, the quarantine measure ends in the event of a negative test carried out 7 days after the recovery of the confirmed case, i.e. on 17^e day, and in the absence of symptoms suggestive of the disease. If no tests have been performed, children 6 to 11 years old and adults will need to extend the quarantine period until 24^e day.

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