Anyone with coronavirus symptoms in England will now be ordered to self-isolate for 10 days rather than seven,England’s deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has confirmed.
In a statement just released
“In symptomatic people COVID-19 is most infectious just before, and for the first few days after symptoms begin. It is very important people with symptoms self-isolate and get a test, which will allow contact tracing.
Evidence, although still limited, has strengthened and shows that people with COVID-19 who are mildly ill and are recovering have a low but real possibility of infectiousness between 7 and 9 days after illness onset.
We have considered how best to target interventions to reduce risk to the general population and consider that at this point in the epidemic, with widespread and rapid testing available and considering the relaxation of other measures, it is now the correct balance of risk to extend the self-isolation period from 7 to 10 days for those in the community who have symptoms or a positive test result.
This will help provide additional protection to others in the community. This is particularly important to protect those who have been shielding and in advance of the autumn and winter when we may see increased community transmission.”
The decision follows a crunch meeting between Boris Johnson and Patrick Vallance in Downing Street on Monday, when the PM’s chief scientific adviser warned rising case numbers across Europe now pose a serious threat to Britain. According to this mornings Sir Patrick is concerned that Britain could be two to three weeks behind Spain in terms of the spread of the virus,”
