Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Minister of Health Nitzan Horowitz have decided to shorten the self-isolation period for people testing positive for Covid to five days from seven days. The new instructions will come into effect on Wednesday for those who have gone for three days without any symptoms.
The medical rationale behind the move is that the viral load of the Omicron variant peaks more quickly than previous variants and thus illness and the infectious stage also pass more quickly in patients with light or no symptoms.
This diminished risk is weighed against the benefits to society of reducing the damage to the economy by ending isolation for tens of thousands of people who are not sick. Most doctors believe that this is the right move.
Most western countries still require seven days isolation although the US shortened isolation to five days last week and from today the UK has shortened the isolation period to five days due to the chronic shortage of staffing levels in many sectors. France allows medical staff who test positive to continue working if they have no symptoms.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on January 17, 2022.
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