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The Director General of Health clarified this Monday that the return to school or the employment of asymptomatic patients or with mild symptoms of covid-19, after 10 days of isolation, depends solely on a declaration of discharge clinic.
Until now, the return of these patients to school or to the workplace depended on the presentation of a negative test for SARS-CoV-2, covid-19 virus, but with the update of the standard of the General Directorate of Health ( DGS)) which reduces the isolation period to 10 days, testing is no longer necessary.
“The treating doctor will issue the necessary statement for that person to return to school or to employment,” explained Graça Freitas during the usual press conference on covid-19 in Portugal.
According to the DGS standard published this Wednesday, the end of isolation measures, without the need to test the new coronavirus, of asymptomatic patients or with mild or moderate disease occurs after 10 days, provided that, in with symptoms, no have used antipyretics for three consecutive days and have “significant improvement in symptoms.”
The Independent Physicians Union warned that the measure has raised doubts among the population and, in particular, among school boards, parents’ associations, business and union associations, household and social security boards.
Asked what are the necessary conditions for recovery, given that the negative test is no longer a requirement, the general director explained that the same treating physician in charge of discharging the patient must also fill out a statement that proves it.
“This hospital discharge corresponds to the end of the isolation in which that person was. Go back to work or go back to school, ”he said.
Graça Freitas also justified the change, stating that the update of the standard follows the most recent data on the evolution of the disease and the transmissibility of the virus, and the opinions of the World Health Organization and the European Center for Disease Control Infectious
“The conclusion we reached is that clinical evolution is more relevant than laboratory evolution in determining whether an individual remains infected or not,” he said, adding that this criterion applies to many other diseases, including influenza.
According to the CEO, the most recent data points to a reduction in the transmission capacity of the new coronavirus after a certain time in cases of mild or asymptomatic disease, even if the virus is still detected in tests.
“It was already known that this was probably due to viral particles that remained in his upper respiratory tract, but that these viral particles were not capable of infecting other people,” he explained, highlighting that this happens from the eighth to the tenth day. .
According to the same DGS standard, cases of severe or critical illness should remain isolated for 20 days from the onset of symptoms, the same time established for patients with severe immunosuppression, regardless of the severity of the disease.
The DGS also highlights that in the case of health professionals or proximity care providers, patients who are going to be admitted to residences or continuous or palliative care units or patients who are going to be transferred in hospital units to areas not dedicated, a negative test will be required for the isolation to be considered complete.
When, in the situations indicated in the previous point, the result of the laboratory test for SARS-CoV-2 is positive, “isolation is prolonged until completing 20 days from the onset of symptoms, at which point the end of isolation, without the need for additional laboratory tests. “
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