By Stavros Nikolaou

The health ministry on Wednesday issued updated instructions as regards when confirmed coronavirus cases and their contacts can end self-isolation.

Instructions may change as the epidemic develops and scientific knowledge is formulated, it clarified.

According to the recommendations, asymptomatic carriers who remain asymptomatic throughout the end of self-isolation 10 days after taking the positive sample can be released on the 11th day.

Mild and medium cases can also end self-isolation on the 11th day after initial symptoms where no fever appeared for at least the first three days (without the use of anti-fever medication, and also an improvement in remaining symptoms.

Before release, people must contact their GP to ensure that above criteria are met.

The new recommendations apply to all those who fall into the above two groups of cases (asymptomatic or with mild/moderate symptoms), regardless of their vaccination record.

Finally, it is clarified that the instructions for close contacts remain as they are:

– Close contacts with a vaccination record are immediately excluded from isolation if they have completed their vaccination schedule with a two-dose vaccine or after 14 days of a single-dose jab.

– Close contacts without a record of vaccination must remain in mandatory self-isolation for 14 days from their last contact with the case regardless of laboratory result.

– Close contacts without a record of vaccination can be released earlier only with a negative PCR test on the 7th day from any approved laboratory at their own expense.