Quebec Is Reducing The COVID-19 Isolation Period To 5 Days In Certain Situations
No more 10-day isolation for fully-vaccinated Quebecers with COVID-19.
If you are double vaccinated and have received a positive COVID-19 test in Quebec, your isolation period will now be reduced by half, health officials announced.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, January 4, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) said that the isolation period will be reduced to five days after the first symptoms instead of the original 10 days for fully vaccinated people, children age 12 and under and high-risk contact situations only.
The government defines "high-risk contacts" as people who live in the same household as a person who has tested positive for COVID-19, sexual partners, and couples who do not live together.
"We are reducing the isolation period from ten to five days after the first symptoms, under certain conditions," Narcity Québec quotes Marie-France Raynault, senior strategic medical advisor to the MSSS's Public Health Directorate, as saying at the briefing.
"If people are asymptomatic or have regressing symptoms, after at least 24 hours without fever, they can return to their regular activities, with a mask and a distance of two metres for the next five days."
The health ministry also outlined a definition of "moderate contact" cases. These are people who had more than 15 minutes of unmasked contact with an infected person. Double-vaxxed individuals in this category are advised to monitor their symptoms for ten days and do not need to isolate themselves.
However, officials say they should wear a mask during this time and limit their social contacts if possible.