France Cuts Isolation Period For People Exposed To COVID From 10 To 7 Days

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - French Health Minister Olivier Veran said his party was cutting the isolation period for people exposed to COVID-19 from 10 days to seven days.

France is following the policies of other countries, such as the United States, of cutting isolation periods to prevent disruption to industry due to staff shortages.

"This isolation can be lifted after five days if the test result is negative. People who are not vaccinated must self-isolate for 10 days," Veran said.

He also said the new variant of COVID-19, Omicron, was difficult to stop because it was too contagious, unless a "strict lockdown" was imposed.

In a New Year's Eve address, French President Emmanuel Macron said the next few weeks would be difficult because of the Omicron variant.

However, Macron will not impose new restrictions in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

"We will remain vigilant throughout January", Veran said, adding that the current Omicron-triggered deployment could be the last.

France has become the sixth country in the world to record more than 10 million cases of COVID-19 infection since the start of the pandemic, according to official data published on Saturday, January 1.

French health authorities recorded 219,126 new confirmed cases in 24 hours on Sunday.