Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, the isolation period reserved for sick patients and people in close contact with individuals positive for Covid-19, was of the order of 14 days. Tomorrow, this period will perhaps be halved to 7 days. A decision announced by the Minister of Health on September 8.
7-day isolation period instead of 14 days
Until now, the isolation period recommended for patients or individuals in close contact with a person who tested positive for Covid-19 was 14 days. Since knowledge about the infectivity of the virus has evolved, this measure is seriously questioned for the first time since the start of the coronavirus crisis. This is how the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, announced during an interview on France Inter, on September 8, that “ the Scientific Council was in favor of reducing the isolation period for patients and contact cases from fourteen to seven days “. The final decision will be taken this Friday, September 10, 2020 during a defense council.
Little contagion beyond 5 days
In his interview, the Minister of Health assured that this decision was not motivated by reasons of economic prioritization by explaining that reducing the period of isolation would allow “ better adherence of the French to this system. […] We see that a large number of French people do not respect the fortnight “.
But what motivated this decision is above all based on the opinion of the experts. According to Olivier Véran, “ you are more contagious in the first five days after you have symptoms or test positive. Beyond a week, contagiousness remains but it is very low. “In fact, experts estimate that there are less than 5% of people contagious after 5 days.
Faced with this decision, many people are worried about the risk of allowing contagious individuals to circulate. To which, the Minister of Health replies: ” there was almost no difference between a situation with 5% of people potentially contagious after five days and a situation where 2% to 4% of people who can be contagious after fourteen days “. Verdict on Friday, September 8 during the defense council.
