Self-Isolation Will Be Cut From 14 Days To 10 Next Week

The self-isolation period is being reduced to 10 days from 14 in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland from 00.01am on Monday 14 December.

UK Chief Medical Officers say that self-isolation is still crucial to stopping the spread of the coronavirus, but that they are confident the number of days can be reduced by four.

In a joint statement, the four CMOs for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: "Self-isolation is essential to reducing the spread of Covid as it breaks the chains of transmission.

PA

"After reviewing the evidence, we are now confident that we can reduce the number of days that contacts self-isolate from 14 days to 10 days. People who return from countries which are not on the travel corridor list should also self-isolate for 10 days instead of 14 days.

"People who test positive should continue to self-isolate for 10 days from onset of symptoms or 10 days from point of taking a positive test if asymptomatic. We urge everyone to self-isolate when appropriate, it will save lives."

The change will apply to all those who are currently self-isolating, and those who started their isolation period before Monday.

If you develop symptoms, or receive a positive test result, the 10-day self-isolation period will start from the day of exposure, the day symptoms start, or the day a test is taken.

It also notes that the NHS Test and Trace service will be updated, but this won't come into effect until 17 December, due to technical issues.

PA

This is different to the self-isolation rules for passengers arriving into England. From 15 December, arrivals into the country will be able to reduce their self-isolation period to as little as five days under a new testing strategy.

International arrivals from countries not on the government's travel corridor list will have the option to take a Covid-19 test after five days of self-isolation, which must be booked through a private provider.

If the test comes back negative, they will then be permitted to end their self-isolation period.

This means the self-isolation period could be reduced to as little as five days, if the test is booked with a rapid testing service and the result is negative.

Under the 'Test to release for international travel' strategy, passengers must book their test prior to travelling and must also complete a traveller locator form.

Topics: UK News, Coronavirus, travel, Politics

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. She spent a few years working on festivals and events before joining LADbible. In her spare time, Amelia likes music and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

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