The four chief medical officers of the United Kingdom came up with a joint statement on Thursday to announce that the isolation period for coronavirus-positive people with clinical symptoms will be extended from seven to 10 days
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th July, 2020) The four chief medical officers of the United Kingdom came up with a joint statement on Thursday to announce that the isolation period for coronavirus-positive people with clinical symptoms will be extended from seven to 10 days.
The extension comes on the back of a new WHO recommendation, announced earlier this week, that symptomatic patients isolate for at least 10 days after developing symptoms and an additional three days after symptoms retreat.
"Evidence, although still limited, has strengthened and shows that people with COVID-19 who are mildly ill and are recovering have a low but real possibility of infectiousness between 7 and 9 days after illness onset," the statement read.
The health officials said they had considered "how best to target interventions to reduce risk to the general population" amid eased off restrictions and higher testing capacity and came to the conclusion that "it is now the correct balance of risk to extend the self-isolation period from 7 to 10 days for those in the community who have symptoms or a positive test result."
Citing the anticipated upsurge in community transmission in the fall and winter, the officials said the quarantine's extension would "help provide additional protection to others in the community."
The statement was signed by England Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty, Northern Ireland Chief Medical Officer Michael McBride, Scotland Chief Medical Officer Gregor Smith and Wales Chief Medical Officer Frank Atherton.
