It has been announced that from today (14th December) the self-isolation period after coming in contact with COVID-19 has been shortened to 10 days from the original 14 that has been a constant rule this year.
The new rule will apply to all countries in the UK, meaning we only have to quarantine for 10 consecutive days, including when returning to the UK from a high risk country.
Why have the rules changed changed?
The new rule reflects the ‘high risk period’ when the virus is most infectious, at day 10 of harbouring the virus and its symptoms, there is only a 2% chance that you may be infectious.
The new 10 day rule will help businesses continue to run with workers that have to take time off to isolate for less time.
The UK’s four chief medical officers said in a statement, “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.
“People who return from countries which are not on the travel corridor list should also self-isolate for 10 days instead of 14 days.”
They added that self-isolation was “essential to reducing the spread of Covid as it breaks the chains of transmission.”
