By Chris King • Published: 29 Dec 2021 • 3:46
Health Minister Carolina Darias. Image: La Moncloa
This Wednesday, December 29, the Spanish Government and the autonomous communities will enter into a debate. They are due to discuss the possibility of following in the footsteps of countries such as the United States, and Greece. These two nations have already agreed to a substantial reduction in the number of days that citizens are required to quarantine after testing positive for coronavirus.
On the recommendation of the technicians who advise them in the fight against the pandemic, the US authorities have agreed to reduce the quarantine period. They have cut the number of days from ten, down to just five, in the case of asymptomatic patients, or those displaying mild symptoms.
The reason for this reduction would be twofold. Studies have shown that the period of greatest transmission of the virus is the two days before symptoms start to show, and the three days after.
Secondly, the enormous transmissibility of the Omicron variant is causing a large number of infections and quarantines. This is threatening to cause a collapse of health services, and is creating serious labour problems, due to the number of people isolating, and the length of time they are off work as a result.
Italy, and the United Kingdom, are already studying whether to follow the path taken by the United States and Greece. Spanish health officials will begin to discuss this issue in the Interterritorial Council of the National Health Service, which brings together the Minister of Health, and the councillors, later today.
However, it seems unlikely that politicians will make a decision before hearing from their experts, and the Public Health Commission does not meet until next week, as reported by diariosur.es.
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Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com
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