7 days only the minimum, isolation can be longer, DOH clarifies

The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday clarified that the quarantine and isolation period can be longer than the minimum day required.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire issued the remark after the Philippine College of Physicians urged the DOH to reconsider its new policy cutting quarantine period for the general public as they do not have access to tight-fitting face masks.

“We said in our policy it’s the minimum of seven days, so maybe seven to 10 days, depende sa sintomas ng mga tao, depende sa sitwasyon sa lugar, maaari naman po ‘yan,” Vergeire said at the Palace briefing.

(We said in our policy, it’s a minimum of seven days, so maybe seven to 10 days, depending on the symptoms, depending on the situation in the area.)

Under the new policy, the isolation period for fully vaccinated probable cases with symptoms, mild cases, and asymptomatic cases will be reduced from 10 days to seven days from the onset of symptoms or from the positive swab result.

Meanwhile, the quarantine period for fully vaccinated close contact of a COVID-19 patient would be shortened to five days from the previous seven days.

Vergeire said the new policy is also for uniformity and as a general principle.

Answering the concern of the group that infected individuals might still transmit the virus six to ten days from onset of symptoms, Vergeire said that the virus load dies down within three to six days after infection.

“[A]ng isang tao, infected right now, specifically no, especially if you are having the Omicron variant, it takes three to six days and then the virus load goes down,” she said.

(An infected individual, specifically right now, especially if you are having the Omicron variant, it takes three to six days and then the virus load goes down.)

She also stressed that compliance with minimum public health standards must still be followed amid the shortened isolation.

“You still need to continue to practice your minimum public health standards and that includes wearing your face masks all the time. And that should be appropriately fitted, especially in the community,” she said.

The Philippines earlier logged a new all-time high of 37,207 new COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began in the country.

This brought the nationwide tally to 3,129,512 and active cases to 265,509. — RSJ, GMA News