Filenews 19 January 2022
Nearly twice as many people continue to transmit the coronavirus on the fifth day of their diagnosis and self-isolation, compared to the seventh day. Almost one in three (31%) is still infectious on the fifth day after the positive diagnostic test, compared with 16% - about one in six - on the seventh day, according to estimates by British health authorities.
The modelling study, conducted by the UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA),according to the British "media", also estimates that only 5% of people - one in 20 - are still able to transmit the coronavirus ten days after it is diagnosed with tests. He also concluded that in most cases the transmission of the virus occurs at the initial stage of infection and not at an advanced stage.
The US reduced its isolation period from ten to five days last month and Britain is considering doing the same from seven (which it is today) to five days. The new findings show, however, that after the fifth day since the diagnosis of the coronavirus, a not inconsiderable number of people can potentially still transmit it to others, if he does not observe himself - and those around him - the appropriate precautions (mask, distances, etc.).
For the time being, the British government is "weighing" the scientific data whether it will proceed to shorten self-isolation to five days, after the previous reduction from ten days to seven. Epidemiology professor Irene Petersen of University College London (UCL) argued that "the government will shoot its own leg if it proceeds with a reduction to five days. If you 'release' people after five days, you gain a certain percentage of the workforce, but if a third of them are still infectious, you may as a consequence lose a larger number of people."
