Government under pressure to cut Omicron quarantine

There are indications that Omicron has a shorter incubation period than previous variants and people are infectious for a shorter time. Keystone / Martial Trezzini

Calls are mounting for the Swiss federal government to cut quarantine and isolation periods, lest rising Omicron cases paralyse the country through lack of staff.

Cantonal health directors in eastern Switzerland have written to the government calling for the quarantine and isolation period to be cut from ten to five days, Zurich cantonal health minister Natalie Rickli said in an interview with the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper. Canton Zurich alone could be seeing 40,000 new cases a day by the end of January, which would paralyse society if nothing is done, she warned.

People who show no symptoms after 48 hours should be allowed to come out of quarantine, the health directors say in their letter sent on Friday, since Omicron has a shorter incubation period than previous variants of Covid-19.

Cantonal doctors’ president Rudolf Hauri is also open to such a proposal, the NZZ reports, citing indications that people infected with Omicron are infectious for a shorter time. A source told the newspaper that discussions within the government were moving in the same direction.

As of Friday, some 89,989 people were in isolation and 28,247 in quarantine, according to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). Last week, the Swiss business federation Economiesuisse also called for a reduction in the quarantine period to five days for people without symptoms. This would reduce the risk of damage to the economy, it said.