Quarantine and isolation shortened

The Federal Council is putting new rules for isolation and quarantine into force on 13 January 2022. Anyone infected with the virus can end isolation as early as five days after the onset of symptoms or a positive test result. This requires that the person has not had any symptoms for 48 hours. The new isolation rules also apply to ETH members, although the ETH crisis management team still recommends avoiding close contact with people without a face mask for ten days.

According to the Federal Council’s decision, only persons living in the same household as the person who has tested positive or who have similar close contact with that person must be quarantined. Even though the Federal Council generally exempts people from quarantine who have recovered from COVID-19 or have been vaccinated against the virus in the last four months, the crisis management team urges ETH members to exercise greater restraint: anyone who has had contact with a person who has tested positive should continue to avoid close contact with people without a face mask for ten days whenever possible.

This quarantine recommendation is directed in particular at all ETH members who have to work at ETH for operational reasons or who are taking an examination at ETH. Anyone who has had contact with a person who has tested positive should, for example, avoid drinking coffee or having lunch with their colleagues.

Further information on the rules and the recommendations of the crisis management team can be found in the “COVID-19: Communication of illness, handling close contacts and supporting contact tracing“ guidelines.