DOH eyes shorter quarantine for fully vaccinated health workers who come in contact with COVID-19 case

The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday said it was mulling a shorter quarantine period for fully vaccinated health workers who come into close contact with a COVID-19 case.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said this was because hospitals are in dire need of health workers amid a fresh uptick in the number of infections.

“Magpapalabas din po tayo ng isang polisiya kung saan we will be shortening the quarantine period of those close contacts who are fully vaccinated na healthcare workers para naman po hindi labing-apat na araw nawawala do’n sa ating ospital,” she said in a radio interview.

(We will release a policy where we will be shortening the quarantine period of fully vaccinated healthcare workers with close contacts so that they won’t have to be out of the hospital for 14 days.)

“Ito po ay naging rekomendasyon naman ng ating mga eksperto na maaaring pitong araw na quarantine basta meron silang fifth day testing at sila po ay negatibo,” she added.

(This was the recommendation of our experts, that a seven-day quarantine is enough as long as they get tested on the fifth day and test negative.)

Vergeire said the policy was still being finalized but will be issued once all experts are on board. She also said the DOH has been helping hospitals expand their bed capacity and hiring more health workers.

The Philippines continues to grapple with a spike in infections driven partially by the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant, which has so far been detected in 1,273 cases. 

On Monday, the DOH confirmed community transmission of the Delta variant in Metro Manila and Calabarzon. —KBK, GMA News