Employers are calling for more flexible quarantine rules, now that the omikron variant has rapidly advanced. This might be a good idea because this new dominant variant has a shorter incubation period and will be less contagious. Moreover, the testing and tracking system cannot handle the high contamination rates.
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Employers are calling for more flexible quarantine rules, now that the omikron variant has rapidly advanced. This might be a good idea because this new dominant variant has a shorter incubation period and will be less contagious. Moreover, the testing and tracking system cannot handle the high contamination rates. Although science has not yet confirmed the shorter period of infection, many countries have already adjusted their quarantine policies. In France, the UK and Italy, you no longer have to quarantine after high-risk contact. It is good that the policy is responding to the evolution of the virus, but the proposal to ease the quarantine policy primarily follows economic logic. Due to the rapid spread of the virus, employees are at risk of having to stay home en masse. It would slow down the economy. The suggestion to go to work after a high-risk contact appears to be putting the economy above health. This may affect the support of residents, who have had to limit their contacts as much as possible in the past two years. Of course, self-tests can help keep virus spreaders out of the workplace. However, these tests are not foolproof. Everyone knows someone who has been negative through a self-test and is still infected. Moreover, the general relaxation of quarantine rules that employer organizations are pushing for calls into question the commitment to remote work. If someone has no reason to move away from the workplace after a high-risk contact, this is only a small step to reconsider the usefulness of remote work in the fight against the pandemic.
