Clara-Laeila Laudette, Jason Hovet

MADRID/PRAGUE – Monday’s announcement by the Czech Republic that they would let critical workers like doctors and teachers return to work, following a positive test for COVID-19 was a sign of progress in Europe. It is also the latest country to lift restrictions on services to help cases rise.

The Omicron variant, which is more infectious, becomes the dominant one, requiring hundreds of thousands to be isolated. Teachers will follow the example set by teachers as school resumes after the Christmas holiday.

However, Omicron’s data, which shows that Omicron has a lower likelihood of filling hospital beds than most, have encouraged governments to reduce isolation and to focus their efforts on saving battered economies.

According to the International Labour Organisation, 258,000,000 full-time jobs were lost due to pandemics in the world. The figure was higher than the loss of hours from work for the 2020 year. Last year it stood at 125 million.

The quarantine period was reduced in Britain, France and Spain, as well as Spain, Spain, and Belgium. They also made it easier for staff who have been infected to resume work.

Czech ministers have begun to create a list of critical workers that will allow them to work despite positive tests. They said drivers, health and social workers, as well as those who provide essential services like laundry, are all likely to be included.

Stefan Kuhn from the ILO said that “Governments show less willingness to impose large lockdowns or to impose minor actions in response to Omicron wave.”

Both France and Switzerland reduced quarantine times to seven days for people with positive tests since Christmas.

“ONLY SMALL WAVES NOW”

England has a similar reduction if an infected person takes a negative test for antigens two days consecutively. The UK Health Security Agency claimed that this is nearly as effective than isolation of 10 days.

Spain has a staff shortage in almost every sector. The 14-day average infection rate for Spain hit an all-time high of 2,723 cases per 100 000 people, more than 10x higher than the start of December.

National police union stated that many officers worked double shifts to support colleagues working in isolation.

Renfe was forced to cancel nearly 40 train services Friday after it became apparent that COVID-19 had caused twice the number of drivers to leave Renfe as early December.

However, rules adopted Dec. 22 allow staff to return to work after a coronavirus testing is not required.

Also, the Health Ministry established a threshold for viral load below which infected persons who take a PCR test are considered not-infectious and can therefore be allowed to return to work. This allows social workers, medics and police to report even if their results come back positive.

Rafael Bengoa was cofounder of Bilbao’s Institute for Health and Strategy.

The former Senior World Health Organization (WHO Official) stated that pandemics do not end in a big boom, but rather with smaller waves of people being infected and vaccinated.

“After Omicron,” we should not be worried about more than the small waves.

These signs indicate that governments are paying attention.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that the “conditions exist to… evaluate the evolution of the disease with other parameters than we currently have,” Cadena SER radio station reported.