Albania to cut quarantine period for positive Covid-19 patients to 5 days

Tirana, Feb 23 Albania has decided to reduce the quarantine period for positive Covid-19 patients in Albania from 10 to five days, Minister of Health and Social Protection, Ogerta Manastirliu announced here on Wednesday.

"The Technical Committee of Experts has decided to reduce the isolation time for those affected by Covid-19 to five days, based on the instructions of the Public Health Institute," Manastirliu said through a Facebook post.

Another recommendation given by the Technical Committee of Experts was that the booster vaccine would be available five months after receiving the last dose of the vaccine, rather than six.

"Emphasising the importance of boosting vaccination, increasing the vaccine coverage of the population and assessing the dynamics of the spread of new daily cases and the situation in hospitals, the experts of the Technical Committee of Experts will re-evaluate the anti-Covid measures," Manastirliu added.

Earlier in February, the Minister announced that Albania may lift most pandemic-related restrictions in March, Xinhua news agency reported.

Skender Brataj, Head of the National Emergency Service in Albania and also a member of the Technical Committee of Experts, said the relief of pandemic restrictions may include lifting the 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, which is in force since September 2021.

According to the Albanian epidemiologist Ilir Alimehmeti, measures against Covid-19 need to focus now on supporting hospitals and health workers rather than restricting people's activities.

In Albania, there are currently a total of 3,763 active Covid-19 cases, according to the latest report of the Health Ministry.

The country reached its peak of the pandemic in January 2022 when the number of active cases was about 24,000 cases.

On Tuesday, the Ministry reported 279 new coronavirus cases and two Covid-19-related deaths, taking the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country to 270,734 cases, with 263,518 recoveries and 3,453 fatalities.