French Health Minister Olivier Veran said the isolation period for fully vaccinated people who test positive for Covid-19 would be cut to seven days from 10 days.

French authorities followed other countries such as the United States, which this week cut the isolation period to prevent disruptions in industries for lack of staff, according to Reuters.

“This isolation could be lifted after five days in case of a negative test. Those who are not vaccinated will have to self-isolate for 10 days, with a possibility to come out of isolation after seven days under the same terms”, Veran told newspaper le Journal du Dimanche.

He also said the new Omicron variant was too contagious to be stopped unless a “strict lockdown” was re-imposed.