Italy, change in quarantine timeframe: except for Beta variant infected persons, quarantine will be seven days for vaccinated high-risk contacts and ten days for those who have not completed their cycle for at least 14 days

Italy, change in quarantine rules for contacts of Covid-19 positive persons

A circular issued by the Ministry of Health emphasises that asymptomatic high-risk contacts (close contacts) of cases with SARS-CoV-2 infection identified by the health authorities, if they have completed the vaccination cycle for at least 14 days, can re-enter the community after a quarantine period of at least 7 days from the last exposure to the case, after which a molecular or antigenic test is performed with a negative result.

If it is not possible to perform a molecular or antigenic test between the seventh and fourteenth day, the circular explains, it can be considered to end the quarantine period after at least 14 days from the last exposure to the case, even in the absence of a molecular or antigenic diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2.

Quarantine, low-risk asymptomatic contacts

Asymptomatic low-risk contacts of cases with SARS-CoV-2 infection identified by the health authorities, if they have completed the vaccination cycle for at least 14 days, should not be quarantined, but should continue to maintain the common hygiene and sanitation measures required to contain the spread of the virus, such as wearing a mask, maintaining physical distance, frequently sanitising hands, following good respiratory hygiene practices, etc. The Ministry of Health recalls that low-risk contacts are defined as:

• a person who has had direct (face-to-face) contact with a COVID-19 case, at a distance of less than 2 metres and for less than 15 minutes;
• a person who has been in an enclosed environment (e.g. classroom, meeting room, hospital waiting room) or who has travelled with a COVID-19 case for less than 15 minutes;
• a healthcare worker or other person providing direct assistance to a COVID-19 case or laboratory personnel handling samples of a COVID-19 case, wearing recommended PPE;
• all passengers and crew of a flight where a COVID-19 case was present, with the exception of passengers seated within two seats in any direction of the COVID-19 case, fellow passengers, and personnel assigned to the section of the aircraft/train where the index case was seated who are in fact classified as high-risk contacts.

QUARANTINE AND RULES FOR UNVACCINATED PEOPLE

Asymptomatic high-risk contacts (close contacts) of cases with suspected or confirmed non-Beta variant SARS-CoV-2 infection or for which sequencing is not available, identified by the health authorities, who have not completed the vaccination cycle for at least 14 days, may re-enter the community after a quarantine period of at least 10 days from the last exposure to the case, at the end of which a molecular or antigenic test is performed with a negative result.

If a molecular or antigenic test cannot be performed between days 10 and 14, it may be considered to end the quarantine period after at least 14 days from the last exposure to the case, even in the absence of a molecular or antigenic diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2.

Asymptomatic low-risk contacts of COVID-19 cases confirmed by suspected or confirmed non-Beta variant or for which sequencing is not available, identified by the health authorities, who have not completed their vaccination cycle for at least 14 days, do not need to be quarantined, but must continue to maintain common sanitation measures to contain the spread of the virus.

RULES FOR HEALTHCARE PERSONNEL: IF NO DIRECT CARE OF COVID+, NO QUARANTINE BUT ACTIVE HEALTH SURVEILLANCE

Different rules apply to healthcare workers or other persons providing direct care to a COVID-19 case or laboratory staff handling samples of a COVID-19 case.

In this case, high-risk individuals are not subject to quarantine but to active health surveillance since the last exposure to the case.

THE BETA VARIANT EXCEPTION

If virus sequencing detects the presence of the Beta (or South African) variant in a positive case, its contacts – both high and low risk – who have not been vaccinated or who have not completed their vaccination cycle for at least 14 days will have to observe a quarantine period of 10 days from the last exposure to the case, after which a molecular or antigenic test will be performed with a negative result.

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Source:

Agenzia Dire