Countries fighting a spike in COVID-19 infections could reduce the recommended length of quarantine in some situations, The World Health Organization said.

New recommendations could be useful for places where essential services are under pressure.

For example, quarantine could be reduced to 10 days without a test and to 7 days with a negative test as long as the person does not develop any symptoms, WHO said.

The WHO also noted that countries could consider relaxing contact tracing measures in such situations.

When contacting people infected with COVID, priority should be given to those at the highest risk of infection, such as health workers and those at high risk of serious illness.

Some countries, such as the USA, Germany and Switzerland, have already shortened the quarantine period to cope with the wave of coronavirus infections caused by Omicron.