Covid isolation time cut to seven days in England
22 December, 2021
People infected with the coronavirus in England can now leave quarantine early if they have two negative tests.
The new measure, which began on Wednesday, requires Covid-19 patients to take lateral flow tests on days six and seven.
If both are negative, under the new rules the patient can leave home isolation but is still advised to limit their contacts with the outside world, avoid poorly ventilated spaces and continue working from home, the UK Health Security Agency (UK HSA)said.
The change comes as the UK battles a fierce Covid wave, driven by the Omicron variant, and countries across Europe increase restrictions.
Agency chief executive Dr Jenny Harries said anyone with coronavirus symptoms should still have a PCR test as soon as possible.
“Covid-19 is spreading quickly among the population and the pace at which Omicron is transmitting may pose a risk to running our critical public services during winter,” Dr Harries said.
“This new guidance will help break chains of transmission and minimise the impact on lives and livelihoods.
“It is crucial that people carry out their LFD tests as the new guidance states and continue to follow public health advice.”
An agency study suggested that a seven-day isolation period along with two negative lateral flow test results had nearly the same protective effect as a 10-day isolation period without testing.
Studies have also demonstrated that lateral flow device tests are just as sensitive at detecting the Omicron variant as they are for Delta.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the new advice should help reduce the disruption to people's everyday lives, and urged everyone to have the booster shot.
“We want to reduce the disruption from Covid-19 to people's everyday lives,” Mr Javid said.
“Following advice from our clinical experts, we are reducing the self-isolation period from 10 days to seven if you test negative on an LFD test for two days running.
The agency said that unvaccinated adults who came into contact with someone infected with the coronavirus must still self-isolate until 10 days after their estimated date of exposure.
On Tuesday, the UK reported 90,629 new Covid-19 cases, with total infections in the past seven days 63 per cent higher than the previous week.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed there would be no further lockdown measures before Christmas for England.
And Chancellor Rishi Sunak has introduced a £1 billion ($1.32bn) support package for businesses to cope with the impact of Omicron.
That includes one-off grants of up to £6,000 for firms affected and the government covering sick pay for Covid-related absences for small and medium-sized businesses.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com