The Italian government is considering shortening the seven-day quarantine for people who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus and have come into contact with someone diagnosed with Covid. Scientists would examine this step together with the Higher Institute for Health (ISS). This was reported by the government commissioner for the vaccination campaign, Francesco Figliuolo, today. There are currently around two million Italians in quarantine.

The quarantine for non-infected people is currently ten days. “We are examining what measures we can take,” said Figliuolo, according to media reports.

The government should revise quarantine rules for people vaccinated against Covid-19 amid the surge in the omicron variant, but now is not the time to take such a move, said Health Secretary Pierpaolo Sileri. “A revision of the quarantine regulations is necessary, but now this is not the right time,” Sileri told the TV channel Heaven TG24. Two weeks are needed to take this decision.

According to Sileri, the Omikron variant is likely to be responsible for more than 60 percent of corona cases in Italy. He said that 100,000 infections per day could be expected in Italy shortly. He expressed the hope that the schools will reopen as scheduled on January 10th. Quarantine rules for children could also be revised before that date, Sileri said. The independent health institute GIMBE announced that the quarantine for children who received their third vaccination should be reduced.