Evolving COVID-19 Guidelines

Marvin Manzanero

One more matter tonight from the Ministry of Health. It says that they are guided by science and established standards of practice, with specific guidelines from the World Health Organization. Manzanero shares some of the recommendations that are being updated internationally including when persons who tested positive can return to work.

Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services

“In terms of discharging patients, once you start getting an overwhelming amount of persons recall that we were saying before that you need to get two negatives before you are able to be discharged from isolation from quarantine before you are able to go back to work. That particular recommendation has changed in WHO, so that the recommendation actually mentions that the criteria may change if you are not able to do two negative test that you lab capacity has been overwhelmed, then the criteria that you can use is for people who are symptomatic with fever, flu-like symptoms; ten days after the onset of symptoms, provided they had gone three additional days without symptoms those persons may be able to go back to work, so that on average thirteen days after you have started with signs and symptoms is when you are able to go back to work if you are not able to test as a country with two negative PCRs. We have checked in the region, and most countries are doing that and some have even moved to seven days after they are diagnosed as long you don’t have any signs and symptoms to go back to work. For asymptomatic cases, again this is WHO recommendation, ten days after you test positive for SARS COVID2, if there is no signs and symptoms you can go back to your routine activities with the necessary precautions of wearing a mask, physical distancing and hand washing are what would routinely happen.”