WHO exhorts 7-day quarantine for close contacts as Malaysia plans to ease rules

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that quarantine for Covid-19 close contacts, who test negative and don't develop symptoms, can be shortened to 7 days in countries experiencing a surge of cases.

The recommendations come amid plans in Malaysia to relax quarantine rules for close contacts.

In its advisory published yesterday, the WHO said if quarantine is to be shortened to 7 days, testing must not be self-administered, but must instead be performed by professionals.

Alternatively, it said quarantine can be ended after day 10 without testing if the contact has no symptoms.

It said pre-Omicron data suggests that the transmission risk for those quarantined for 10 days is around 1 percent, with an upper limit of about 10 percent.

If quarantine is shortened, the WHO said close contacts should continue to wear masks and continue to monitor for symptoms.

Yesterday, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said relaxed quarantine rules for close contacts will be announced next week, to ease disruptions to the economy amid the Omicron wave.

Eased guidelines are already in place for healthcare workers.

Healthcare workers identified as close contacts may be classified as low risk or high risk depending on the nature of the exposure.

Low-risk exposure

An example of a low-risk exposure is where both the patient and the close contact were wearing masks, while an example of a high-risk exposure is where the two live in the same house and share the bathroom or kitchen.

Among other rules, those who are classified as low-risk and have no symptoms are not barred from working, and are only required to monitor for symptoms for 14 days and get tested if they develop symptoms.

For comparison, current protocols for the public in Malaysia require close contacts to quarantine between five and 10 days from the day of exposure, depending on their vaccination status. A test is required only if they develop symptoms, and no distinction is made for the degree of risk involved in the exposure.

Breach of quarantine requirements is punishable with a RM1,000 compound.

In the US, the Centers for Disease Control recommends that close contacts who have up-to-date vaccinations (including any booster shots, if eligible) do not need to quarantine if they do not have symptoms.

Taking precautions

However, they are asked to take several precautions such as taking a Covid-19 test and wearing a well-fitted mask for at least 10 days whenever they are around other people, including while at home.

In the UK, vaccinated persons are not legally required to quarantine themselves but are “strongly advised” to take a Covid-19 test daily for seven days.

In Singapore, close contacts are required to undergo a five-day monitoring period. They must self-isolate immediately and take a Covid-19 test but may resume normal activities for the day if the result is negative.

If they want to leave their house on subsequent days during the monitoring period, however, they must take the test again for that day and are allowed to proceed if the result is still negative. - Mkini