Table 4.

Principles can help countries to plot a way out of the shutdown.

1.	Consider easing restrictions when the case count has decreased after the peak, has been stable for two weeks, and the hospitals can cope with the number of severe cases. Cases must be staged into imported, linked to known clusters and cases and unknown sources.
2.	Expand testing for new and past infections by setting up strategic testing sites, introduce testing stations in the community providing diagnostic tests to everyone with compatible symptoms and serological testing for surveillance of population immunity. Introduce point-of-care (POC) testing when validated tests become available.
3.	Consider testing employees with nucleic acid tests and/or antibody tests before returning to work to find silent cases and recovered persons. This can also be applied to schools. In collaboration with the occupational health service, establish sustainable workplace policies emphasizing infection control.
4.	Consider imposing the use of surgical or non-medical face masks whenever outside the household to reduce the risk that those persons with an unrecognized infection will contribute to transmission. This must be an adjunct to other ongoing physical distancing interventions and hand hygiene.
5.	Continue to impose quarantine on arriving passengers from countries with active outbreaks. Aim to develop a travel certificate for people with documented immunity with SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies to be exempt from quarantine rules.
6.	Maintain strong infection prevention measures in all health care institutions.
7.	The SARS-CoV-2 virus will most probably be in our societies for a long time until we have a vaccine. Flare-ups, small outbreaks, and clusters are expected, and thus public health care system must be refurbished to take care of new cases, rapidly perform contact follow-up, and ensure quarantine. Therefore, a permanent upgrade of the public system is needed.