Isolation for people with Covid can be up to 5 days, says Queiroga

Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said this Friday morning (7) that the isolation time for asymptomatic patients who test positive for Covid-19 “possibly” will be reduced from ten to five days.

The reduction, says Queiroga, “is being adopted in other countries and has an emphasis on scientific evidence. It is possible that we adopt this same approach. This is being studied in the technical area, at the Secretariat for Surveillance and Health, and today I have a meeting with the secretaries to deal with this issue”, said the minister.

Queiroga claims that the Ministry of Health follows guidelines that are being followed in other countries. “The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already given this recommendation. The French government has already given this authorization to health professionals who are positive to assist on the front line due to the number of cases”, he said.

The Ministry also intends to act on increasing testing. “It is necessary to carry out testing to identify the increase in the number of cases and to isolate people who are positive, it is not just testing for the sake of testing”, pointed out Queiroga.

He stated that states and municipalities should also act and use part of their budgets to combat the growth of Covid-19 cases in the country, as well as to increase the spread of Influenza.

“The SUS is tripartite, and states and municipalities must also allocate part of their budgets to fight the covid-19 pandemic. It’s not just charging the health ministry all the time and then adopting measures in line with its idea at the end”, criticized the minister.

In the next 30 days, the government is expected to have more complete information about the dangers related to the Ômicron variant. “We are going to wait another three or four weeks to have a more definitive idea regarding the potential for lethality”, said the minister.

For Queiroga, actions to combat the growth of Covid and Influenza should prioritize the North region due to structural challenges. “What worries us most is the northern region because vaccination coverage is chronically lower, and because the health system is more fragile,” he said.

About the cancellation of the street carnival in several cities across Brazil, the minister said that “the Ministry has never encouraged” the holding of large events throughout the pandemic.