Mônica Bergamo: Entity asks for 5 days of isolation for health professionals with Covid

The National Confederation of Health, Hospitals, Establishments and Services (CNSaúde) sent a letter to the Minister of Labor and Welfare, Onyx Lorenzoni, asking that the period of leave granted to health professionals infected with the coronavirus be limited to five days.

The measure, says the entity, would make it possible to anticipate the return of these professionals to the front line of the fight against the pandemic and would be valid both for those who have symptoms of Covid-19 and for those who are asymptomatic.

In the document, which was sent to Onyx last Friday (7), CNSaúde states that the sector does not have a regulation in this regard and still depends on technical notes from Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency), which proposes ten days sick leave for contaminated workers.

CNSaúde is an employers’ union and claims to represent around 250 thousand establishments in the private sector, such as hospitals, clinics, laboratories and other health units.

The Brazilian confederation cites guidance from the CDC (United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention), which reduced isolation for asymptomatic patients with Covid from ten to five days.

“People who test positive should be isolated for five days and, if asymptomatic at that time, they can leave isolation if they can continue to wear a mask for another five days to minimize the risk of infecting other people”, says CNSaúde in a letter, endorsing the CDC.

The CDC did not, however, recommend that Americans do rapid tests before ending isolation periods. The measure, according to scientists, would give greater assurance that people will not continue to spread the virus.

The CNSaúde letter also suggests that “professionals without symptoms suggestive of Covid-19, even with high-risk exposures (contactant), when they are fully vaccinated (3rd dose) or who have had Covid-19 in the last 90 years, do not need to be removed. days”.

The proposal sent to the Ministry of Labor is in line with the statement made by the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, last week. At the time, he said that the folder can reduce isolation for asymptomatic people with Covid from ten to five days.

“It is clear that we can have a return of these professionals sooner and safely to the front line, thus allowing us to continue meeting the demand with quality, which remains high”, says the president of CNSaúde, Breno Monteiro.

Brazil has seen a significant increase in cases of Covid-19 and flu, driven by the advancement of the ômicron variant and the epidemic of influenza A H3N2, which has already spread to several states.

After almost two years of the pandemic, experts say that care to prevent transmission of the coronavirus or H3N2 remains the same: wearing masks, maintaining physical distance and hand hygiene.

_{with JOELMIR TAVARES (interim), LÍGIA MESQUITA, BIANKA VIEIRA e MANOELLA SMITH}