Turkey shortens COVID-19 quarantine to 10 days

ANKARA

Turkey on Monday shortened the quarantine requirement for contact with a novel coronavirus case to 10 days.

In a statement, the Health Ministry announced the update to its COVID-19 guidelines according to research by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and European Centers for Disease Control (ECDC), which it said it follows closely.

"People who had close contact stay in quarantine for 10 days. Quarantine of people who do not develop any symptoms during the quarantine period ends at the end of the 10th day without conducting a PCR test, but these people will continue taking the necessary precautions in public spaces," said the updated document.

Previously, the quarantine requirement for contact with someone who contracts the coronavirus had been 14 days.

It added that a sample for PCR testing could be taken at home on the fifth day at the earliest, provided available capacity. If the test comes back negative and no symptoms emerge, quarantine may end at the end of the seventh day.

Under no circumstances can quarantine for close contact be ended before seven days, it underlined, adding that working people could return to work on the eighth day.

* Writing by Dilan Pamuk in Ankara