UK

Covid self-isolation for fully vaccinated in England cut to five days

<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: sans-serif, Arial, Verdana, &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;; ">People who test positive for Covid-19 will need to have negative lateral flow tests on day five and six before coming out of isolation</span>
People who test positive for Covid-19 will need to have negative lateral flow tests on day five and six before coming out of isolation People who test positive for Covid-19 will need to have negative lateral flow tests on day five and six before coming out of isolation

Time spent in self-isolation in England will be cut to allow people to leave after completing a “minimum” of five full days, with negative tests on days five and six, British Health Secretary Sajid Javid has told MPs.

He said: “This virus is still with us. And there are still likely to be difficult weeks ahead.”

Mr Javid told the Commons ONS data shows “encouraging signs that infections are falling in London and the east of England”.

“But we’re still currently seeing infections rise in other parts of the country. And the data does not, as of yet, reflect the impact of people returning to work and school. So, we must proceed with caution.”

Mr Javid said “there are already early signs that the rate of hospitalisation is starting to slow”.

The Health Secretary added that Omicron “still has the potential to lead to significant numbers of people in hospital. There’s already almost 17,000 Covid-19 patients in hospital in England.

“Due to the lag between infections and hospitalisations, the NHS will remain under significant pressure over the next few weeks.

“It is encouraging, however, that during this wave we have not seen an increase in Covid-19 intensive care patients, and there are already early signs that the rate of hospitalisation is starting to slow.

“We know that Omicron is less severe. But no-one should be under any illusions, it is severe for anyone that ends up in hospital, and that’s far more likely if you have not had the jab.”