Covid self-isolation in England being cut to five full days
The self-isolation period for people who test positive for Covid-19 is being cut to five full days in England, UK Government Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said.
From Monday, people will be able to leave isolation after negative lateral flow tests on days five and six.
Ministers had touted the move as a way to reduce staffing pressures in some sectors, including the NHS.
The self-isolation period was cut from 10 to seven days with negative tests on days six and seven back in December.
Mr Javid said that the country was the "freest in Europe" and was "leading the world in how to live with Covid".
He said the self-isolation period was aimed at maximising activity in the economy while "minimising the risk of people leaving isolation".
Commenting on the news that self-isolation for fully vaccinated people will be cut in England from 7 to 5 days from Monday, Dr Liz Cameron CBE, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce said:
“Scotland’s businesses welcomed the Scottish Government’s decision to reduce the self-isolation requirements earlier this month due to the severe impact they were having on employee availability and operational capacity.
“Alignment of self-isolation requirements on a four nations basis is essential to ensure that Scottish businesses aren’t disadvantaged, and employees can continue to work as soon as safely possible.
“We hope that the Scottish Government will now look again at the evidence and also reduce self-isolation requirements to 5 days from Monday.”
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