Dubai Announces New Mandatory Quarantine Rules

mandatory quarantine required dubai

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has announced that the isolation or “quarantine period” for certain COVID-19 patients and close contact cases has been reduced to 10 days from the initial 14-day period.

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This applies to individuals who have come in close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case but did not develop any symptoms.

mandatory quarantine required dubai

Dubai Orders Mandatory 10-Day Quarantine for Residents who had Recent Contact with Confirmed COVID-19

The health authority explained that the shortened isolation period is applicable to COVID-19 patients who have been asymptomatic since testing positive. The reduced isolation period also applies to patients with mild cases of COVID-19 who have fully recovered from their symptoms – without the use of fever-reducing medications.

Meanwhile, those who have been hospitalized due to developing moderate, severe or critical COVID-19 symptoms, can only be discharged when they have tested negative in a PCR test two consecutive times that are 24 hours (or more) apart.

In such cases, the patient in question should be without fever for more than three days without the use of fever-reducing medications. Also, the patient should also have improved minimal respiratory symptoms and their pulmonary imaging must show marked improvements.

According to DHA, this category of patients must self-isolate for at least seven days after they have been discharged. They added that if symptoms reappear within the two-week period after discharge, a mandatory health check must be observed.

The health authority explained that shortening the isolation period is based on global research on COVID-19, which found that the majority of contact cases get infected within the first 10 days from the date of exposure.

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