I suggest, due to the attached new study, that the quarantine period for Covid 19 disease caused by Coronavirus becomes 18 days instead of the 14 days currently followed.
SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV viral load dynamics, duration of viral shedding, and infectiousness: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Muge Cevik, et al .
- Open AccessPublished: November 19, 2020
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-5247(20)30172-5
WHO updated the criteria for discharge from isolation as part of the clinical care pathway of COVID_19 patients .These Criteria apply to all COVID_19 cases regardless of isolation location or disease severity.
Criteria for discharging patients from isolation
For symptomatic patients : 10 days after symptoms onset ,plus at least 3 additional days without symptoms.
For asymptomatic cases 10 days after positive test for SARS_CoV_2.
For example, if a patient had symptoms for 2days ,the patient could be released from isolation after 10days+3=13 days from date of symptoms onset.
For a patient with symptoms for 14 days ,the patient can be discharged (14days+3days=) 17 days after date of symptoms onset.
For a patient with symptoms for ,30 days ,the patient can be discharged (30+3=) 33days after symptoms onset.
Is a 14-day quarantine period optimal for effectively controlling coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)?
The whole Covid-19 population including both hospitalized and non-hospitalized cases had a median incubation period of 7-day for adults, which is 1.8-day longer than the hospitalized cases reported previously. An extension of the adult quarantine period to 18 days or 21 days could be more effective in preventing virus-spreading and controlling the disease.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.15.20036533v1
The quarantine period for COVID-19 cases is variable.
I know several cases in India where the COVID-19 patients were quarantined from 10 days to 21 days.
It is important to note that the clinical criteria require that patients' symptoms have been resolved for at least three days before release from isolation, with a minimum time in isolation of 13 days since symptom onset.