Madrid, Dec. 31 (BNA): Portugal has followed Spain’s lead and reduced the coronavirus quarantine period from 10 to seven days, the Portuguese health authority DGS announced on Thursday.
The reduction applies to cases without symptoms as well as to anyone with suspected but unconfirmed infection, according to the German news agency (dpa).
The move follows a global trend: the United States on Monday reduced the recommended isolation period from 10 to five days. Prior to that, Britain reduced the quarantine time from 10 to seven days. A similar move is being discussed in Germany and Italy.
On Thursday, RTVE radio station, citing the Ministry of Health, reported that the shortening of the isolation period specified in Spain also applies to Covid cases with mild symptoms.
And the ministry announced, on Wednesday, that the reduction applies to asymptomatic cases as well as unvaccinated people with unconfirmed infections.
Vaccinated people who have been in contact with an infected person are not currently required to be quarantined in Spain, where the number of new cases continues to increase rapidly, despite the vaccination rate of around 80 percent.
And Spain’s infection cases in seven days hit a record 915 on Thursday, up from a year low of about 18 cases in mid-October. With 101,760 new infections reported within 24 hours, the 100,000 mark was crossed for the first time since the pandemic began.
According to authorities in both Spain and Portugal, hospitals are mostly handling the spike in cases, although some medical care has been affected.
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