5 DAYS ISOLATION: NOT YET FOR ESWATINI

MBABANE – A national response on the recently issued guidelines from the CDC, on adjusting the isolation period to five days from 10 when COVID-19 positive, is yet to be released by the Ministry of Health.

This comes after the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new quarantine and isolation guidelines, hoping to prevent further disruptions to daily life, stating that the isolation time for COVID-19 positive patients who did not present with mild or severe symptoms, should now be reduced to five days instead of the initial 10 days.

The CDC revised its guidelines on isolation for symptom-free COVID-19 patients and those exposed to the virus, prompting many experts to question the decision and to urge those who have tested positive for COVID-19 to remain cautious. The CDC announced on Monday that it was shortening the recommended isolation time for individuals who had tested positive for COVID-19, but had no symptoms. That isolation time was cut in half, from 10 to five days.

Periods

This decision comes after the South Africa Health Ministry also recently announced revised quarantine periods, which include a shortened isolation period.
When reached for comment on whether this would be applicable to Eswatini as well, the Director of Health Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr Vusi Magagula, stated that the ministry was aware of the CDC’s decision as well as other countries’ positions on this guidance. “The ministry is currently putting together in writing the national response and guidance on the alterations when looking and responding to the new variant,” said Dr Magagula. Dr Emily Landon of UChicago Medicine, who is a CDC representative, was asked to break down the new guidelines for NBC 5, an American News Channel, and to explain the steps that people needed to take when adhering to the rules.

Isolation

“When you’re completely better, with no more fever, then as long as you’ve been in isolation for at least five days, once you’re better you can come out of that isolation and go back to spending time with people, or go back to your job or do other things, but you need to wear a good, high-quality mask until at least 10 days are up,” she said. The CDC defended its decision to shorten isolation time, saying that most COVID-19 transmission has been shown to occur in the one-to-two days prior to symptoms appearing, and the following two-to-three days after they appear. Landen cautioned people not to necessarily rely on that exact timeline, saying that in many cases patients could remain contagious for a longer time period, and that was why wearing a mask was critical.

The South Africa Government on Tuesday, recalled rules that no longer required people without symptoms of COVID-19 to isolate or test if they had been in contact with a positive case, saying an amended circular would be re-issued. The Health Ministry in SA had previously announced that asymptomatic individuals who had been in contact with a case of COVID-19 no longer had to isolate, but should monitor the symptoms for five to seven days and avoid attending large gatherings. It had been stated that only those people who developed symptoms needed to get tested and that those with mild symptoms should isolate for eight days and severe cases for 10 days.

The SA ministry had also revised protocols on quarantine, saying all quarantine facilities outside the home would be stopped, while contacttracing efforts would also be scrapped aside from in specific scenarios such as cluster outbreaks. Amid the official announcement by the SA Health Ministry on the availability of booster shots in that country, there has been an ongoing debate on how best people can boost their COVID-19 vaccination. According to IOL news, there has been conflicting views among experts on whether people should indeed mix the vaccines or stick to the vaccine which was initially taken by the individual. “There is not yet conclusive evidence that disagrees with the mixing of jabs. However, some vaccines are more effective than others when taken as boosters,” stated the report on IOL news.

Boosting

Dr Magagula was further asked on whether boosting with a different brand from one’s initial jab was recommended, to which he said the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine was best boosted with another J&J, which is advised to be done as early as two months after the initial jab. He also said the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines, were best boosted with the Pfizer vaccine six months after the last dose. However, boosting with AstraZeneca was also recommended.
According to Yale Medicine, people who received the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine and followed by a J&J booster had a 76-fold rise in antibodies in 15 days. However, Johnson & Johnson also previously announced that it was designing and developing an Omicron-specific booster.

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