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Health Check: How long should Covid quarantine last?

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A girl in a mask showing a 'stay home' message written on her hand

2020/09/30 GMT

How long should Covid quarantine last?

BBC World Service - Health Check, How long should Covid quarantine last?

Does cutting quarantine to a week increase the risk of missing cases of Covid-19?

One million deaths from Covid-19 reached; Belgium cuts coronavirus home-quarantine to a week; UK doctors use text messages to help Afghan doctors with coronavirus treatments

This week Belgium is shortening the quarantine period for people who’ve been in contact with someone who’s tested positive for Covid-19 to a week – to see if it helps everyone stick to the rules. Fourteen days is recommended by the World Health Organization but Professor Steven van Gucht who is head virologist at the National Institute of Public Health in Belgium says the risk of missing a few positive cases is relatively low. Evidence indicates that if a test is done after a week, 88% of positive cases of Covid are detected – compared with 96% if you test after two weeks. 

One million people have now died of Covid-19 and cases continue to rise in Europe. In better news the WHO has announced the rollout of 120 million rapid diagnostic tests in low-income countries where it’s hard to get a test. 

Boston University’s professor of Global Epidemiology Matt Fox explains about promising research into the Mediterranean diet and about surgery for a type of snoring that causes sleep deprivation. 

We also hear from a former Afghan refugee - now working as a doctor in the UK – who’s passing on advice about treating coronavirus via text to doctors in his home country.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Paula McGrath

(Picture: A teenage girl in a mask showing a 'stay home' message written on her hand. Photo credit: Ti-ja/Getty Images.)

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