The coronavirus can continue to spread when the recommended quarantine ends

A week without symptoms is not enough to assume that covid-19 can no longer be spread

The quarantine period for a positive for covid-19 has been changing with the evolution of the pandemic. In some cases, the authorities have reduced the initial two weeks that were proposed to five days in some current countries. Children have even been allowed to attend schools even if they have been infected. Today, the recommended quarantines are between 7 and 14 days and it seems that the lack of symptoms is the green light to return to normal life. What does science say about it? Which should at least be amber.

A recent scientific study by the Pasteur Institute in France and the University of Sao Paula has found that the coronavirus can remain active for months after symptoms disappear. "Based on the results, we can say that approximately 8% of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) could be able to transmit the virus for more than two months without necessarily showing any symptoms during the last phase of the infection. infection," said Marielton dos Passos Cunha , the lead firm in the investigation. "Of our 38 tracked cases, two men and one woman were outliers in that the virus remained continuously detected in the body for more than 70 days,"doctors certified.

For example, the researchers came across the situation of a 38-year-old man who had exhibited mild symptoms of covid-19 for 20 days, but could detect the coronavirus in his blood for the next 232 days . According to experts, if it had not been for him to be isolated with the protocols of medicines, social distance and masks, he would have been able to spread the virus for seven months beyond the recommended quarantine. The virus had managed to return to the contagious phase by overcoming the barriers of the patient's weak immune system .

On the other hand, it is not the first study to reveal that the coronavirus can remain active once mild symptoms are overcome . An investigation by the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Brazil had discovered a few months ago that in 25% of cases the virus maintained its ability to infect ten days after the symptoms ended , according to saliva samples extracted and analyzed in a laboratory. Another study by the FM-USP Medical School also found an infection that had lasted at least 218 days with the laboratory samples.

What to do if I test positive for covid-19 once the recommended quarantine has been passed?

The new research on the contagion time of the coronavirus published in Frontiers in Medicine warns that patients should not return to life without protocols until they test negative at least two or three times consecutively. "These cases are further proof that the use of masks and social distancing are the best ways to control the pandemic. If 14 days after testing positive a person does not undergo a new test, they can continue to excrete active viruses and be capable of infecting others, contributing to community transmission ", warned Paola Minoprio , one of the coordinators of the investigation.

In other words, anyone who tests positive for covid-19 after quarantine is over should maintain strict protocols to avoid contagion.