Ómicron: why did the United States recommend reducing the quarantine of those infected?

The United States announced new measures to be taken in the face of infections or exposure omicron, the new variant of “concern” of COVID-19, which has reminded the population that we are still in a pandemic.

MORE INFORMATION: Droplets of saliva from infected with COVID can spread on crowded beaches, says Minsa

This new variant has made the virus more contagious and has prompted governments to start taking measures, such as capacity reductions and restrictions for the unvaccinated to prevent its rapid spread.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States, however, has made a series of provisions that, to the surprise of many, reduce quarantine times.

MORE INFORMATION: How much could the contagion by the omicron variant in Peru accelerate in January?

WHY DID THE UNITED STATES RECOMMEND REDUCING THE QUARANTINE OF THOSE CONTAGED BY OMICRON?

The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC), through a statement, on December 27, 2021 indicated that they recommend reducing the quarantine period for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients from 10 to 5 days, due to omicron appears to be more contagious than other coronavirus mutations, but also less severe.

In the document, it indicates that the change is motivated by the scientific demonstration that most infections occur at the beginning of the disease, on the first and second days of symptoms and two or three days later.

WHAT ARE THE RECOMMENDATIONS?

INFECTED

• People who test positive should be isolated for five days if they are asymptomatic and after this period continue with a mask for another five days to minimize the risk of infecting others.

EXPOSED (PEOPLE WHO HAD CONTACT WITH CONTAGIATES)

• If those exposed are unvaccinated people or have been vaccinated for more than six months (or more than two in the case of the Janssen vaccine), they must quarantine for five days and spend another five with a mask strictly.
• Those exposed vaccinated or with the recent booster should spend ten days with the mask on at all times.
• A test five days after contact is recommended for all those exposed.

WHAT SYMPTOMS DOES THE OMICRON VARIANT CAUSE?

Muscle pain, fatigue and headache would be the most characteristic omicron symptoms, according to preliminary studies. There are also feverish pictures and sore throats.

In general, the symptoms are quite similar to those we already know, although in the detected cases it has been observed that they did not present loss of taste or smell.

HOW MANY VARIANTS OF THE SARS-COV-2 VIRUS ARE THERE CURRENTLY?

Although there are many variants, we will indicate which ones are considered “Variant of concern” (VOC) by the WHO:

• Alpha (first detected in UK, September 2020)
• Beta (South Africa, May 2020)
• Gamma (Brazil, November 2020)
• Delta (India, October 2020)
• Now to Ómicron.