Officials extend COVID-19 quarantine time to 14 days

The mandatory quarantine for people with a positive coronavirus test and those who came into contact with them is being extended from ten to 14 days in the Czech Republic. This is due to the spread of more contagious coronavirus mutations. Also, today, people who have already received both doses of covid-19 vaccination do not have to quarantine after contact with the infected person.

According to the Minister of Health Jan Blatný, Czechia is returning to the two-week quarantine similar to other countries. The quarantine for 14 days in the Czech Republic was valid at the beginning of the epidemic. It was shortened to ten days in September.

The so-called British variant of coronavirus has spread in the Czech Republic, and the first cases of the South African mutation have also been confirmed. According to experts, these variants of the virus are more contagious, and the South African mutation also reduces the effectiveness of some vaccines and drugs for covid-19. They, therefore, warned that a person infected with one of the modifications could spread the virus even after ten days.

According to the chief hygienist’s methodological instruction from 11 February, the hygienists should proceed individually when ordering the quarantine for the contacts of the positively tested person if they suspect a virus mutation.

They can order quarantine regardless of the use of respiratory protection when in contact with the positive. A scarf, shawl, or cloth drape is no longer considered adequate respiratory protection. People should use disposable surgical drapes or respirators. The condition of a minimum contact time with a positive test of 15 minutes also no longer applies.

People whose coronavirus has been confirmed in the last three months do not need to be quarantined now. As of today, quarantine is not mandatory for people who have already been vaccinated with both doses of the vaccine, and at least 14 days have passed since the second dose.

They must have a vaccination certificate, or the data must be recorded in the central system and must not have symptoms of the disease after contact with the infected person.

The media became interested in the rules for the quarantine of the vaccinated in the first half of February after Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (YES) did not go into quarantine when the government office head Tünde Barth, became infected with the coronavirus. Some of Babiš’s close associates entered the quarantine at the time, but Babiš did not explain that he had already received both doses of the vaccine. Hygienists from Prague and the Central Bohemian Region stated that mandatory quarantine also applies to people vaccinated against coronavirus.