Previously, WHO recommended ending the isolation of infected people only after they twice tested negative on samples taken 24 hours apart. The change is significant given that many countries are grappling with how to deal with thousands of people who are technically infected with the virus but may not still pose a transmission risk to others.
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The U.N. health agency said it updated its recommendations because recovered COVID-19 patients were still testing positive for the virus weeks later. Despite their results, “these patients are not likely to be infectious and therefore are unlikely to be able to transmit the virus to another person,” WHO said.
Italy, the onetime epicenter of the pandemic in Europe, followed the WHO’s previous testing advice, with some people self-isolating even though they felt fine because they kept testing positive for the coronavirus.
One woman made headlines in Italy because she tested positive six times, over the course of 57 days, even though she said felt fine. But technically speaking, she was required to remain in isolation.
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Health Minister Roberto Speranza asked the Italian government’s scientific and technical advisory committee Sunday for guidance on the new WHO recommendations, noting they represented a “significant” change to Italy’s management of COVID-19 patients.
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Speranza said in a statement that the updated advice also could alter how the government counts who has officially recovered from the virus and recommended “maximum precaution.”
Anecdotally, doctors have said many of Italy’s new confirmed cases are due to people getting tested for the virus after they did blood tests looking for COVID-19 antibodies.
In Italy, those who have developed antibodies are automatically tested specifically for the coronavirus, with some positive results being registered in people who may have been sick much earlier or never felt ill.
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Italy on Sunday reported 224 new coronavirus cases and 24 deaths in the past day, bringing the country’s official death toll in the pandemic to 34,634.
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O Ministério da Saúde da  está pedindo a assessores do governo que avaliem as novas recomendações da , dizendo que as pessoas com COVID-19 podem sair do isolamento antes de dar negativo para o .

A OMS disse na semana passada que pacientes que passaram 10 dias consecutivos isolados com sintomas podem ser liberados se ficarem sem sintomas por pelo menos três dias. As pessoas que não desenvolvem sintomas do COVID-19 podem parar de se isolar 10 dias após o primeiro teste positivo, de acordo com as diretrizes revisadas da OMS.

Anteriormente, a OMS recomendava o fim do isolamento das pessoas infectadas somente depois de terem sido negativas duas vezes em amostras colhidas com 24 horas de intervalo. A mudança é significativa, uma vez que muitos países estão discutindo como lidar com milhares de pessoas tecnicamente infectadas com o vírus, mas que ainda não representam um risco de transmissão para outros.