THE HAGUE - People infected with the coronavirus may need to spend less time in self-isolation, said Minister Ernst Kuipers of Public Health in talk show Beau. Now they have to self-isolate for at least a week, but isolation could be shorter because the Omicron variant makes people ill for less time. It is up to the RIVM to assess this, said Kuipers.

When someone is allowed to leave isolation after testing positive depends on how long they've been symptom-free. They can only go outside again after 24 hours with no symptoms, and only if the first symptoms happened over a week ago.

Kuipers fears that society will be disrupted by the many people who have to isolate because of coronavirus infection. Sectors like healthcare and public transport already struggle with staff shortages because many people are sick at home. On average, about 120,000 people are infected per day, according to the RIVM.

To relieve some pressure from society, the Cabinet already relaxed the rules for quarantine after contact with an infected person. People who had contact with an infected person no longer have to quarantine if they had their booster shot more than a week ago or recovered from a coronavirus infection in the past eight weeks. This only applies if they have no symptoms.