The rules to follow, with the increase in infections in Italy and also in view of the Christmas holidays, in the event that it comes into contact with a positive person at Covid-19.
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For weeks now, infections from Covid-19 have been increasing in Italy, also driven by the contagious Omicron variant of Sars Cov2 that is spreading rapidly in our country. In these hours we are discussing new restrictive measures to be adopted to deal with the fourth wave: in the afternoon the Council of Ministers will meet and will have to put the indications in a new Covid decree on paper. In this holiday period, many Italians are wondering what are the rules to follow in case of contact with a positive virus. Since when to swab the quarantine to be respected, passing through low or high risk contacts, the General Directorate of Health Prevention of the Ministry of Health has clarified all doubts.
What is meant by high risk close contact
A contact of a Covid-19 case is any person exposed to a probable or confirmed case within a period of time ranging from 48 hours before the onset of symptoms up to 14 days after or until the time of diagnosis and isolation of the case. If the case does not show symptoms, contact is defined as a person who has had contact with the index case in a time ranging from 48 hours before the collection of the sample that led to the confirmation and up to 14 days after or until the moment of diagnosis. and isolation. There are differences between close high-risk and low-risk contacts. “Close contact” (high risk exposure) is defined as:
- a person living in the same house as a positive case,
- a person who has had direct physical contact with a positive (e.g. handshake)
- a person who has had unprotected direct contact with the secretions of a positive (e.g. touching used handkerchiefs with bare hands)
- a person who has had direct (face-to-face) contact with a Covid case at a distance of less than 2 meters and at least 15 minutes
- a person who has been in a closed environment with a positive case in the absence of suitable PPE
- a healthcare worker or other person providing direct assistance to a positive case or laboratory staff handling samples of a Covid case without the use of recommended PPE or through the use of unsuitable PPE
- a person who has traveled seated by train, plane or any other means of transport within two seats in any direction with respect to a positive case; the travel companions and the staff assigned to the section of the plane / train where the index case was sitting are also close contacts.
When contact is low risk
A low-risk contact is a person who has had one or more of the following exposures:
Buffers that cannot be found in Rome, long queues and difficulties to drive in even for the positives at Covid
- a person who has had direct (face-to-face) contact with a positive case, at a distance of less than 2 meters and for less than 15 minutes
- a person who has been in an enclosed environment or who has traveled with a positive for less than 15 minutes
- a healthcare worker or other person providing direct assistance or laboratory staff handling samples of a Covid case, equipped with recommended PPE
- all passengers and crew of a flight in which there was a Covid-19 case, with the exception of passengers seated within two seats in any direction from the positive case, travel companions and section staff / train where the index case was sitting which are in fact classified as high risk contacts.
What to do in case of close positive contact with Covid
In the event that you are identified as a “close contact” of a Covid case, no negative test results allow you to be exempted from undergoing a quarantine period lasting at least 7 or 10 days (depending on vaccination status) from the last exposure with a negative antigen or molecular test. Close contacts in a confirmed case must alert your doctor, who will provide all the information to contact the Prevention Department of the ASL or ATS competent for the area which will arrange quarantine and surveillance.
Is the quarantine triggered for low-risk contacts?
There is no quarantine for low-risk contacts of a Covid-19 positive subject, who have completed the vaccination course and are asymptomatic. In case of unvaccinated but asymptomatic low-risk contacts, the rule is the same as for immunized ones.
How long after contact can you return to work
At the end of the quarantine period, if no symptoms have appeared, the person who had had contact with a positive can return to work and the period of absence is covered by the certificate. If the person develops symptoms during the quarantine period, the Department of Public Health will perform the swab. In case of positive result, it will be necessary to wait for clinical recovery and perform a molecular test after at least 3 days without symptoms. If the molecular test is negative, the person will be able to return to work, otherwise the isolation will continue.
Vaccinated and unvaccinated, are the rules different?
The rules are different between people who have immunized and those who have not had the anti-Covid vaccine. The high-risk asymptomatic contacts (close contacts) of Covid cases if they have completed the vaccination course for at least 14 days, they can return to the community after a quarantine period of at least 7 days from the last exposure to the case, at the end of which a molecular or antigen test is performed with a negative result. If it is not possible to perform a test between the 7th and 14th day, it is possible to consider ending the quarantine period at least 14 days after the last exposure to the case. Low-risk asymptomatic contacts, if they have completed the vaccination course for at least 14 days, should not be quarantined.
High-risk asymptomatic contacts (close contacts), if they have not completed the vaccination course for at least 14 days, can return to the community after a quarantine period of at least 10 days from the last exposure to the case, at the end of which a molecular or antigen test is performed with a negative result. If it is not possible to perform a molecular or antigen test between the tenth and the fourteenth day, it is possible to consider ending the quarantine period after at least 14 days from the last exposure to the case even in the absence of tests.