New rules for covid quarantine, the Director General of Prevention of the Ministry of Health, Giovanni Rezza, signed the circular of ‘Update on quarantine and isolation measures following the global spread of the new Voc Sars-CoV-2 Omicron variant ( B.1.1.529) ‘.
“The first data on the efficacy of vaccines against the Omicron variant” of Sars-CoV-2, we read in the premise of the circular, “suggest that it would be able to reduce the efficacy of vaccines against infection, transmission and symptomatic disease, especially in those who have completed the two-dose course for more than 120 days. The third dose would, however, restore the efficacy of vaccines to levels comparable to those against the Delta variant, providing good protection against severe disease “.
“For these reasons – it is specified – it is appropriate to promote the administration of the third booster dose and to differentiate the measures envisaged for the duration and the end of the quarantine both on the basis of the time elapsed from the completion of the primary vaccination cycle and the administration of the dose booster “.
THE NEW RULES – As regards the chapter ‘Quarantine and its alternative modalities’, the document distinguishes between “close (high risk) contacts” and “low risk contacts”. Among the high-risk contacts there are 4 groups.
The first group includes “subjects not vaccinated or who have not completed the primary vaccination course (ie they have received only one dose of the two scheduled) or who have completed the primary vaccine course for less than 14 days”: for them “the current measure of the quarantine expected in the duration of 10 days from the last exposure to the case, at the end of which period a molecular or antigenic test is performed with a negative result “.
The second group concerns “subjects who have completed the primary vaccination cycle for more than 120 days and who still have a valid Green pass: if” they are “asymptomatic, the quarantine lasts 5 days, provided that a molecular or antigenic test with negative result “.
The third group includes “asymptomatic subjects who have received the booster dose, or have completed the primary vaccination course in the previous 120 days, or have recovered from Sars-CoV-2 infection in the previous 120 days”: for them “the quarantine does not apply and it is mandatory to wear respiratory protection devices of type Ffp2 for at least 10 days from the last exposure to the case. The self-monitoring period ends on day 5. A rapid or molecular antigen test is required to the detection of the Sars-Cov-2 antigen at the first appearance of symptoms and, if still symptomatic, on the fifth day following the date of the last close contact with subjects confirmed positive for Covid-19 “.
In the fourth group there are “health workers”, who “have to swab on a daily basis up to the fifth day from the last contact with an infected person”.
As for the low risk contacts, “if they have always worn surgical masks or Ffp2”, according to the ministerial circular “no quarantine is necessary, but the common hygienic-sanitary precautions must be maintained. If it has not been possible to guarantee the use of the mask, these contacts must be passive surveillance “.
Then there is the chapter ‘Insulation’, relating to Covid-19 positive people: “As for infected subjects who have previously received the booster dose, or who have completed the vaccination cycle for less than 120 days – it reads – isolation can be reduced from 10 to 7 days , provided that they have always been asymptomatic, or have been asymptomatic for at least 3 days, and on the condition that, at the end of this period, a molecular or antigenic test is performed with a negative result “.