As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian Institute of Public Health has published the revised recommendations on priorities for SARS-CoV-2 testing, contact tracing, the completion of self-isolation, and quarantine/self-isolation with reference to persons who have already had COVID-19 or have been vaccinated against it.
Vaccination against COVID-19 is now considered, as is recovery following the contraction of the disease, to be a valid reason for quarantine exemption and subsequent testing following close contact with a coronavirus patient. Close contact testing continues to be recommended if they are part of a collective arrangement or if they work with highly vulnerable groups of people.
In addition, given the increased testing capacities and the overall reduced incidence of the disease, there is no need to specify priorities for testing in symptomatic individuals, the CNIPH announced in the latest round of updated Croatian coronavirus info.
Contacts infected with the new strain of the novel virus will be quarantined for a period of fourteen days, not ten.
If, based on the anamnesis or the results of a screening test for new variants, it is suspected that the patient is suffering from a variant of the virus with a higher spread potential or that is antigenically different from the predominant variants, contact quarantine will last for fourteen days,” the updated Croatian coronavirus info states.
It is also noted that this currently refers to the so-called British, Brazilian and South African variants of the virus. If ongoing sequencing of strains shows that the British variant is already widespread in the population, the extension of quarantine will not apply to close contacts of patients suffering from the British variant.
“After the end of quarantine, it is not necessary to test people if they don´t develop any symptoms (unless they are immunocompromised, work in healthcare facilities or are social service providers for elderly and seriously ill adults, as well as people with disabilities, using a PCR test).
Those who have already contracted and recovered from the disease or have been vaccinated should not be tested if they aren´t presenting with any symptoms.
Immunocompromised people working in healthcare institutions, those who are providers of social services for the elderly and seriously ill adults and persons with disabilities, who did not develop any symptoms of COVID-19 during their quarantine, may return to their workplace and terminate the measure of quarantine after testing negative on the 10th day of quarantine. A PCR test will be used for this purpose.
The latest Croatian coronavirus info also states that people who did develop symptoms of COVID-19 when in quarantine/self-isolation should be tested, and in anticipation of the test results, they should be treated as if they are indeed infected.
A rapid antigen test or a classic PCR test may be used for this purpose.
In addition, if a person has had laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in the past three months, or if they have received a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at least fourteen days previously, testing is not required if there are no clear symptoms of the novel virus, according to Index.
