Coronavirus: Quarantine

(asked on 5th May 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of time that a person who has recovered from COVID-19 is able to carry the virus; and what consideration they have given to a putting in place a mandatory quarantine period post-recovery.


Answered by
Lord Bethell Portrait
Lord Bethell
This question was answered on 20th May 2020

In the case of COVID-19, infection is most commonly detected by using a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR); a test that detects viral genetic material (in this case, ribonucleic acid; RNA). The detection of viral RNA alone does not necessarily indicate an active virus infection.

Evidence shows virus can be cultured from upper respiratory tract samples for about eight days after the onset of symptoms.

Stay at home: guidance for households with possible coronavirus (COVID-19) infection recommends that individuals remain at home for seven days after the onset of symptoms. If a person still has a high temperature, they should keep self-isolating until their temperature returns to normal. If the individual lives with others, all other household members who remain well must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill. Stay at home: guidance for households with possible coronavirus (COVID-19) infection was first published on 12 March in an online only format on GOV.UK.

The Government is reviewing the guidance on the duration of the self-isolation period.

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