Self-isolation for Covid-19 contacts and international arrivals cut to 10 days

People who have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus will now only have to isolate for 10 days.

This lunchtime the government has announced the change which applies to anyone currently self-isolating.

This includes people have have returned to the UK from a country that's not on the safe-travel list.

Previously anyone who had come into contact with someone who had tested positive had to stay at home for 14 days.

The new rules will apply to all those who are currently self-isolating, including those who began doing so before Monday.

A statement from the the four nation's health chiefs said: “Self-isolation is essential to reducing the spread of Covid as it breaks the chains of transmission.

“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.”

The joint statement was issued by England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty, Scotland’s interim chief medical officer Dr Gregor Smith, Northern Ireland’s chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride and Wales’ chief medical officer Dr Frank Atherton.

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