On Friday 3 December, the epidemic commission decided to shorten the quarantine period from 10 days to 7 days.

This means that people who are told to isolate after testing positive for COVID-19 and those who have been quarantine after exposure to an infected person are now required to isolate/quarantine for 7 days.

Isolation

If you have tested positive for COVID-19, you are required to isolate for 7 days, counting from the date your symptoms appeared and/or the date you received your positive test result. The last 48 hours must be without symptoms. This means that if you have been symptom-free on days 6 and 7 of your isolation, you will be released from your isolation on day 8.

Quarantine

If you are not fully vaccinated and have been directly exposed to a person who has tested positive for COVID-19, it is recommended that you quarantine for 7 days, counting from the date of exposure. It is recommended that you get tested on days 4 and 6 after exposure. If you receive a negative test result from your day 6 test, you will be released from your quarantine on day 8.

If you are vaccinated and have been directly exposed to a person who has tested positive for COVID-19, it is recommended that you practice great caution and get tested on days 4 and 6 after exposure.

Special precautions relating to the new Omicron variant

All positive tests from people who have arrived from abroad are currently being gene sequenced.

Secondary contacts:

While the test samples are being sequenced, more people will be instructed to quarantine in order to reduce the risk of infection. This means that everyone who has been directly exposed to an infected person – these are classified as secondary contacts – will be quarantined for 7 days, regardless of vaccination status.

Secondary contacts are urged to get tested immediately after exposure.

Once the gene sequencing results reveal that the Omicron variant is not detected, fully vaccinated secondary contacts will be released from their quarantine. Unvaccinated secondary contacts are required to quarantine for 7 days.

Tertiary contacts:

People who have been directly exposed to a secondary contact – these are classified as tertiary contacts – will similarly be asked to quarantine for 7 days, irrespective of their vaccination status.

Tertiary contacts will be released from their quarantine if and when the secondary contact to whom they were exposed is given a negative test result.