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ARCHIVED - Experts in Spain debate reducing Covid quarantine further
Many communities in Spain believe the isolation period is destroying the economy
Coronavirus quarantine has experienced quite a few incarnations during the past two years of the pandemic: it began with those testing positive for Covid having to isolate for 14 days; in June 2020, this period was dropped to 10 days and just before Christmas, this was reduced even further, to just seven days.
Now, despite Spain’s Minister of Health categorically refusing to shorten quarantine time again, claiming that such a move would be “absolutely premature,” the issue is still dividing autonomous communities.
Madrid has been particularly vocal on the issue, claiming that a week of isolation is devastating the economic recovery of the region, but the likes of the Valencian Community, Castilla-La Mancha and Galicia are also in favour of a reduction. On the other side of the argument are the Balearic Islands, Extremadura, Castilla y León and Andalucía, who have all called for “prudence” before lessening restrictions.
For the most part, the experts tend to agree with the Health Minister, since the contagion period of the Omicron variant, which now accounts to 86% of all Covid cases in Spain, is quite different to Delta. With this new strain, the peak of infectivity is normally reached on the sixth day, so reducing quarantine to seven days would mean allowing highly contagious people to walk around freely.
Omicron or flu? How to tell the difference between symptoms
Óscar Zurriaga, vice president of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology (SEE), insists that the current isolation period “is not a randomly assigned number,” but instead is designed “to try to limit the spread [of the disease] as much as possible”.
Despite this, some countries have chosen to reduce the duration of quarantine, with the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) even suggesting “shorter quarantine periods in case of high or extreme pressure on health systems and society”.
Virologists in Spain remain unconvinced and warn that reducing isolation for people who may still be contagious will simply serve to delay our emergence from the sixth wave, which has finally reached its peak.
See also: How to get a Covid passport and How to book an appointment for a vaccination or booster jab in Spain
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