The health directors of the cantons of eastern Switzerland have written to the Federal Council asking it to reduce the duration of the quarantine and isolation to five days. This is what Zurich health director Nathalie Rickli said.
In an interview with the ‘NZZ am Sonntag’, the SVP politician says that due to the Omicron variant, there could be up to 40,000 cases per day in the canton of Zurich alone by the end of January . It will cripple society if we do not act now.
This is why the Confederation must urgently reduce the duration of the quarantine and isolation to five days, ask the directors of health of eastern Switzerland to the Federal Council in a letter sent on Friday.
Shorter incubation time
People who do not show symptoms for 48 hours should be able to end isolation or quarantine, say the authors of the missive, with Omicron having a shorter incubation time than previous variants. People with symptoms, however, should stay home.
The director of public health of the canton of Bern, Pierre-Alain Schnegg, also declared on Saturday evening to the French-speaking Swiss radio station RTS that the reduction to five days had to intervene quickly. He very much hopes that will be the case as early as next week. ‘After that, it would be good to discuss the removal of mandatory quarantine,’ he added.
Rudolf Hauri se dit favorable
The president of the cantonal doctors, Rudolf Hauri, declared that he understood this request in the ‘NZZ am Sonntag’. He too would welcome the Federal Council to reduce the length of solitary confinement and quarantine. There are indeed indications that people infected with Omicron are infected for a shorter period of time.
On Friday, according to data from the Federal Office of Public Health (OFSP), around 89,989 people were in isolation and 28,247 in quarantine. Already last week, the umbrella organization Economiesuisse called for a reduction to five days of the quarantine period for people without symptoms. The risk of damage to the economy could thus be reduced.
/ ATS
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