French prime minister Jean Castex announced on Friday reduced self-isolation time despite the country’s health situation “obviously worsening”, with health authorities in the country said the 14-day quarantine was not being consistently adhered to because of its length. Could a change be in the cards for Luxembourg as well? 

Lenert made the suggestion during a Tuesday morning health committee meeting concerning the covid draft law, which aims to extend and adapt anti-covid measures which are set to expire at the end of the month. 

The current duration of isolation, applicable to a person testing positive for covid-19, is minimum 14 days. During this home confinement period, all contact with others should be avoided, and a surgical mask is to be worn in the presence of third parties. 

Quarantine applies to people who have had high-risk contact with an infected person (face-to-face contact for more than 15 minutes, without respecting barrier gestures) and lasts for seven days from the last contact with the infected person.

Recent modification in France

The Luxembourg government website states that “from the fifth day, they will be asked to be tested for covid-19 in a laboratory of their choice…if the test is negative, the quarantine is automatically terminated”. 

Failure to comply with the quarantine or isolation measures are punishable with a fine ranging from €25-€500. 

A decision to modify these durations will be taken by the government council, which will meet on Wednesday, Lenert explained, adding that this would be based on the latest analyses and studies. Should a change be decided on, the minister will propose a government amendment before Friday, the date on which the next health committee is set to take place.

"Pseudonymised" data for research purposes

The health committee also addressed the issue of the processing of personal data. These would be kept for a period of three months and then "anonymised" (it is then not possible to restore the identity of the person concerned). One exception would remain: in the context of a scientific or historical study, researchers can make a request during these three months and they will receive this data in "pseudonymised" form, where re-identification is then possible.

Regarding forms filled out by passengers on a plane (airlines must automatically transfer forms filled out by passengers to health authorities, in order to facilitate contact tracing if a passenger tests positive), MPs proposed to specify in a parliamentary amendment that the health directorate will anonymise the data 14 days after collection.

Draft law 7645 is expected to be voted on during a public session next week.

This article was originally published in French on Paperjam.lu and has been translated and edited for Delano.