Alistair Smout & Maayan Libell

LONDON/JERUSALEM – Britain, Israel and other countries are reviewing their COVID-19 testing policies. This is in response to the increasing infection rate caused by Omicron variants and the increased burden placed on labs.

The pandemic was almost over last year when vaccines gave hope. Omicron, however, has presented new problems, such as overloading the public health system, which can lead to more severe illnesses than those from Delta.

The supply of testing kits is being squeezed by the demand. In Spain, the scene has been quite common since Omicron introduced new infections. Last week there were long lines outside Madrid’s pharmacies. Madrid’s conservative government, which has placed supporting the hospitality industry at the forefront of its priorities, is opting to increase testing and not restrict socialising.

There have been issues in Britain and Italy due to a surge in test demand. UKHSA stated that there were 100,000 additional PCR booking slots available every day from mid-December, and that the capacity of 900,000.000 LFD and PCR test kits per day has doubled.

If they do not show symptoms or test positive, people who are found to be COVID-19 in England will not have to take a second PCR test.

According to estimates by the Office for National Statistics, a record number of people in England had COVID-19 during the week that ended Dec. 31, records were set.

According to Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the agency, “While COVID cases continue to increase in severity,” LFDs are able to be confidently used to diagnose COVID-19 infection.

A PCR test is done in a laboratory and used to identify the variant of a person. However, a LFD can easily be performed at home. It gives an indicator of infection within 30 minutes.

SUBSONIC RISE IN INFECTIONS

Israel has changed its testing and quarantine policy to help save money and protect vulnerable populations.

The ministry of health stated that people 60 years and older or who have weak immune systems will receive PCR tests. People at greater risk will get rapid antigen testing.

Nachman Ash, the ministry director general said that this was a major change meant to detect risk populations earlier and intervene in order to prevent severe diseases.

Official tests have always been mandatory for those who were exposed to COVID-19-carriers. If they’re found to have COVID-19, they need to undergo quarantine.

On Monday, nearly one million coronavirus cases were reported in the United States. This is the highest number of infections per day for any country and almost twice the peak that was set by the United States a week before.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), supported its previous guidance for COVID-19 isolates at 5 days. They also said they can take a quick antigen test if needed, but not a requirement.

Health experts pressured the agency to establish a testing requirement following its reduction of half its guidelines last week to help people isolate from a COVID-19-infected person to just five days.

Britain, Portugal, Spain and Spain also reduced the period of mandatory isolation for COVID-19 positive people. They were concerned about long quarantines that could lead to economic paralysis.

Ireland will drop its requirement for vaccinated arrivals to have proof of a negative COVID-19 test and return to seeking proof of vaccination or recent infection upon entry, Prime Minister Micheál Martin said.

Nearly 294 million people have been reported to be infected by the coronavirus globally and more than 5.8 million​ have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Since December 2019, when the first case was identified in central China, infections have been reported in over 210 territories and countries.

According to a spokesperson for the government, the “supersonic” increase in French COVID-19 infection rates is expected to continue over the next few days. There are also no signs that the trend will reverse.

Sweden set the daily record for coronavirus new cases with 17.320 infections Tuesday. Omicron was dominant.

Novak Djokovic was a tennis player who arrived in Australia during a political storm about his COVID-19 status. This visa dispute added another twist to Novak Djokovic’s bid to compete in the Australian Open.

Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open https://tmsnrt.rs/2FThSv7 in an external browser.