Covid isolation period has been cut to five full days, Sajid Javid announces

The coronavirus isolation period in England will be cut to five full days from next Monday, Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced.

Currently people who are testing positive can be freed midway through their seventh full day of isolation, if they test negative on days six and seven. However, today Sajid Javid announced the period will be cut by between 24 and 48 hours following concerns over the pressure on the NHS.

Under the new rules, people will have to isolate for five full days starting at 12:01am the day after their positive test or the start of symptoms.

They will then be able to leave isolation at the start of day six – if they tested negative on both day five and six.

Sajid Javid said the government was expecting to make 400 million tests available in January. And he also said there were “early signs that the rate of hospitalisation is starting to slow” but urged people who had not yet had a booster to get vaccinated.

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