France relaxes COVID rules, shortens isolation time

The French government will ease quarantine requirements for people infected with the coronavirus despite record numbers of new cases, Health Minister Olivier Veran has said. 

Starting Monday, fully vaccinated people who test positive for COVID-19 will only have to isolate for seven days and can leave quarantine after five days if they show a negative test, Veran told the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. 

Unvaccinated people would have to quarantine for 10 days and their isolation time could be shortened to seven days with a negative test, he said.

Meanwhile, fully vaccinated contacts of positive cases will no longer need to isolate provided they test themselves every other day for six days. Unvaccinated contacts will have to isolate for seven days.

The change in regulations should allow a "benefit-risk balance aimed at ensuring the virus is controlled while maintaining socio-economic life," the Health Ministry said.  

To be considered fully vaccinated, an individual must have received a booster dose no later than seven months after being immunized. Veran said this period will now be shortened to four months from February 15.

Here's a look at coronavirus-related news in other parts of the world:

Europe 

The United Kingdom has so far refused to curb socializing and large events despite record infections last week, citing a less dramatic increase in hospitalizations when compared with case numbers.

"Curbs on our freedom must be an absolute last resort and the British people rightly expect us to do everything in our power to avert them," Health Secretary Sajid Javid wrote in the Daily Mail newspaper.

"I've been determined that we must give ourselves the best chance of living alongside the virus," he added, noting the "enormous health, social and economic costs of lockdowns."

England, however, will require children in secondary schools to wear face coverings when they return after the Christmas holiday next week.

"We want to maximize the number of children in school and college for the maximum amount of time," Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said in an article in the Sunday Telegraph.

"One of the additional, temporary measures that will help achieve this in light of the omicron surge is recommending face coverings are worn in secondary school classrooms and teaching spaces for the coming weeks — although not for longer than they are needed," he added.

The association of senior hospital doctors (VLK) in Germany has said coronavirus would no longer be a threat to the health system if the omicron variant became as dominant in the country as it is in South Africa, the UK or Denmark and if the infections are as predominantly mild as there.

"There is a realistic probability that the pandemic will also become endemic in this country," VLK President Michael Weber told the Welt am Sonntag, a German newspaper.

As omicron spreads, daily infections have been rising again in recent days and the number of beds occupied in intensive care wards has also surged.

The coronavirus pandemic and securing pensions are also considered the most urgent political problems of the year 2022 for Germans, the Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported, citing a survey commissioned by the Insa polling institute.

The German operator of the Aida Nova cruise ship that spent the new year stuck at Lisbon's port due to an outbreak of COVID-19 among staff members, has decided to end the cruise after the infection spread from the crew to the passengers.

The company said it would transport all the passengers home by air after four passengers tested positive for the virus.

The ship failed to reach its destination of the island of Madeira for new year's eve after 52 members of staff were found to have been infected.

Middle East

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Sunday that a fourth jab of the COVID-19 vaccine will be given to people aged 60 and above as well as health care workers.

The decision follows the approval of a fourth jab for people with a weakened immune system.

Israel has seen cases surge as the omicron variant spreads through the country. Authorities reported over 4,000 new cases on Sunday, a rise of around 195% over the previous week.

Asia-Pacific 

In New South Wales (NSW), the most populous state in Australia, COVID-19 numbers have decreased. Newly diagnosed cases in NSW dropped to 18,278 from 22,577 the day before as the number of tests carried out on New Year's Day declined by a quarter, Health Department figures showed.

However, hospitalizations jumped by 18% to 1,066, prompting growing concerns about potential strains on the country's health care system.

The Australian government said that it would push ahead with plans to reopen the economy despite a rise in cases for Australia as a whole.

South Korea recorded its first deaths connected to the new omicron variant on Monday. Two people posthumously tested positive for the virus, but officials were still investigating the cause of death.

Americas 

Ecuador saw COVID-19 cases triple in the last quarter of 2021, following the appearance of the omicron variant, according to official figures.

December recorded a total of 24,287 cases, more than double the number reported in November (9,513), and more than three times the number reported in October (7,556).

Ecuador ended 2021 with a total of 551,620 confirmed cases in its last quarter, including 33,682 deaths, reflecting an increase of 61% and 58% over the same period in 2020, respectively.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are considering requiring a negative test to release asymptomatic people after their minimum five-day quarantine, top White House medical advisor Anthony Fauci said.

The CDC recently cut the required isolation time for those infected from 10 to just five days if they are no longer feeling symptoms. But this was met with criticism due to the possibility of asymptomatic transmission of the virus.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday and said he would isolate for five days, in line with current rules.

He is fully vaccinated and has received a booster. He said he had only mild symptoms and would retain his authorities while in quarantine.

ab, mvb/sms (AFP, dpa, Reuters)