Public Health Ontario says the infectious period of the Omicron variant does not appear to be shorter than that of other forms of the coronavirus — and may even be longer in some cases.
Although evidence on the contagiousness of Omicron is still limited, the Ontario agency’s own modeling data suggests that infected people can spread the variant for as long as other versions of SARS-CoV-2.
And unlike other variants of concern, Omicron does not seem to clear faster from the bodies of vaccinated people than unvaccinated people.
These findings are found in a report on strategies for treating acute care patients, released last week, and align with comments made earlier this month by Canada’s Chief Medical Officer of Health. Dr. Theresa Tam said the latest evidence does not show that the Omicron variant is contagious for any shorter than previous versions of the coronavirus.
Ontario and Quebec are among the many provinces that have recently reduced the isolation period after the first symptoms appear in vaccinated people from ten days to five days.
Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as Yukon and Nunavut, have reduced this isolation period to seven days for those vaccinated.
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