The 14-day self-isolation period for “close contacts” of coronavirus cases will be cut to 10 days from Monday, the government has announced.
The new shorter isolation period will apply across the whole of the UK, having already been introduced in Wales.
People arriving in the UK from countries not on the travel corridor list will also only have to quarantine for 10 days rather than two weeks.
It still means anyone who is found to have come into close contact with a positive Covid case after Tuesday will be told by NHS Test and Trace to self-isolate over Christmas Day.
But under the 14-day rule, that cut-off point would have been today.
App delay
The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) admitted on Friday the NHS Covid-19 phone app would wrongly continue to tell people to isolate for the old period of 14 days until Thursday.
It said this was due to the time taken to develop and test technical changes.
Until the app is updated, people in England have to follow the instructions given by human contact tracers if phoned by NHS Test and Trace.
If someone has been advised to isolate by the app, and not by NHS Test and Trace, then they will be allowed to leave isolation if their isolation countdown timer says before Thursday that three days remain. But from Thursday, the app will display the correct number of days, so you should follow its instructions precisely.
The chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland announced the reduction in isolation time in a joint statement on Friday.
“Self-isolation is essential to reducing the spread of Covid as it breaks the chains of transmission,” they said.
“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 days.
“People who return from countries which are not on the travel corridor list should also self-isolate for 10 days instead of 14 days.
“People who test positive should continue to self-isolate for 10 days from onset of symptoms or 10 days from point of taking a positive test if asymptomatic.
“We urge everyone to self-isolate when appropriate. It will save lives.”