COVID-19 isolation law could end this month in England

pharmafile | February 10, 2022 | News story | Business Services  

Boris Johnson has said that all remaining COVID-19 restrictions in England – including the legal rule to self-isolate – could end later in February.

As it stands, anyone who has COVID-19 symptoms or who tests positive (via a PCR or LFT) must immediately self-isolate for at least five full days. These restrictions are due to expire on 24 March, but Mr Johnson told MPs he expected the last domestic rules would end early as long as the positive trends in the data continued.

Boris Johnson said he intended to set out the government’s COVID-19 strategy on 21 February, following the half-term break. Johnson previously told MPs that as COVID-19 becomes “endemic” (constantly present), the government will “replace legal requirements with advice and guidance urging people with the virus to be careful and considerate of others”.

The rules surrounding self-isolation following contact with someone with COVID-19 are broadly similar in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. If you are fully vaccinated (two doses – three in Scotland), you are not required to self-isolate, but should take daily LFTs for seven days (or until ten days since your last contact).

“It is my intention to return on the first day after the half-term recess to present our strategy for living with COVID-19,” Johnson said during the Prime Minister’s Questions. “Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions – including the legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive – a full month early.”

Lina Adams

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