The move comes amid a surge in infections, however, the health minister assured that there was no need to worry about more severe cases, for now, as there hasn't been a surge in hospitalizations.
The surge is tied to omicron, the fast-spreading variant that countries the world over are scrambling to contain with new measures.
On Wednesday, Turkey reported 66,467 cases, the highest count since April 2021, the second time the country broke a nine-month record increase in cases. On the other hand, fatalities are not as high as in the past and have hovered around 143, bolstering the notion that the variant is not as deadly as its predecessors since symptoms are mild in most cases. Still, experts say more data is needed to grasp the true scope of the variant's impact.
In a written statement issued after the meeting of Health Ministry's Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca reiterated that the quarantine period for people who have tested positive has been reduced to seven days.
People who test negative on the fifth day of the quarantine will be allowed to end their isolation, he said.
People who have received booster shots or contracted the virus in the last three months will not be forced to quarantine if they come into contact with an infected person, Koca added.
Unvaccinated people or those who received their booster shots more than three months ago will be required to quarantine for seven days and must test negative on the fifth day of the quarantine to come out of isolation.
Quarantine periods have been revised in other countries amid omicron's recent surge in a bid not to disrupt daily life, with data so far showing that the variant causes milder infections that do not require hospitalization. The United States imposed a five-day quarantine for people who test positive while the United Kingdom, Spain and France changed the quarantine periods to seven days.
Turkey has refrained from introducing widespread restrictions so far despite the surge. The country lifted curfews, lockdowns and other strict measures in summer 2021 but wearing protective masks, adhering to social distancing and following hygiene rules are still mandatory.
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