Quarantine time after contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case could potentially be reduced to 7 days without raising the risk of onward transmission of the virus by testing people on the seventh day of quarantine with either a PCR or lateral flow antigen (LFA) test, findings from an English modelling study published today in The Lancet Public Health journal suggest.
Cutting the quarantine period for people who have been in contact with an infected person to one week and requiring them to test negative on the last day would be just as effective as the existing government advice of 14 days, a study claims.
Currently, a person who tests positive for coronavirus is told to self-isolate for two weeks, as are people they may have come into contact with.
But researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine created a computer model to see how reducing the quarantine period for contacts affected the spread of the virus.
The findings indicate that contacts who test negative after seven days of quarantine are unlikely to be infectious and can be released with little risk.
Biopharmaceutical major Biocon Ltd has posted a nearly 19 per cent dip on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in its consolidated net profit at Rs 186.6 crore for the third quarter of FY21, owing to its generics business taking a hit along with headwinds across operational, regulatory and commercial functions. The third quarter of the last financial year had seen the Bengaluru-headquartered company post a net profit of Rs 230.3 crore. Biocon s consolidated revenue for Q3 of FY21 increased by 7.20 per cent at Rs 1878.9 crore as against Rs 1752.6 crore for the said quarter last year. The company s consolidated revenue growth came on the back of a 13 per cent rise in research services and 11 per cent in biosimilar business segments on a YoY basis, along with core earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margins of 31 per cent, said Biocon s executive chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.
UK modelling study estimates 59% of SARS-CoV-2 transmission may be prevented by completing the WHO recommended 14-day quarantine period after exposure to.