Boris Johnson refuses – but what are the rules on
when to self-isolate?
No 10 says PM did not come into close contact with
civil servant who tested positive, though this is disputed
Lucy
Campbell
Fri 6 Aug
2021 19.10 BST
Boris
Johnson has said he will not self-isolate after a member of his team tested
positive for Covid.
Downing
Street said the prime minister did not come into close contact with the civil
servant during the trip to Scotland, but a source said the pair had been
“side-by-side” on several occasions and also flew in the same small aircraft
between Glasgow and Aberdeen.
So what are
the rules covering what you should do if you’re notified by a contact-tracing
service after being in close contact with someone who has tested positive?
According
to government guidance for England, you’re advised to stay at home and complete
10 full days isolation because you’re at risk of developing Covid yourself.
This is the same in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
According
to Public Health England, a contact can be anyone who lives in the same
household, has had face-to-face contact within one metre, been within one metre
for one minute or longer, or been within 2 metres for more than 15 minutes of
someone who has tested positive – whether as a one-off or added up together
over one day.
A close
contact may also be someone who has travelled in the same vehicle or plane as
an infected person.
The
isolation period includes the date of your last contact with them and the next
ten full days.
If you have
been vaccinated, with one or two doses, you still need to self-isolate.
However,
the rules will change on 16 August to allow fully vaccinated adults and
under-18s in England to avoid isolation. In Wales, this will come into effect
on 7 August, and in Scotland on 9 August. Northern Ireland is to hold further
talks on the matter next week.
Instead,
the double-jabbed will be advised to take a PCR test and can stop isolating if
the result is negative. In Wales, people will also be advised to take PCR tests
on days two and eight.
There is
separate guidance for frontline NHS and social care staff in England.
Double-vaccinated staff who have been told to self-isolate are permitted to
keep working after having a negative PCR test and daily negative lateral flow
tests for a minimum of seven days – but this is only if their absence may prove
detrimental to patient care.
Fully
vaccinated health and social care workers in Scotland may also be exempt from
self-isolation but only in “extreme circumstances as a last resort”. Exemption
is voluntary and depends on a negative PCR test followed by daily negative
lateral flow tests for 10 days.
Daily
contact testing is also being rolled out in England for 16 key sectors in which
the self-isolation of close contacts would result in serious disruption to
critical services. A similar scheme is in place in Scotland for these critical
industry sectors.
In
Scotland, blanket self-isolation for schoolchildren will also end on 9 August.
Pupils will no longer be required to isolate for 10 days when someone in their
bubble tests positive, as long as they test negative themselves.
If you
think you are a contact but have not been notified by a contact tracing
service, you should arrange to take a PCR test, even if you don’t have
symptoms.
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