The Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, has this afternoon announced further changes to Covid-19 rules.
He said the risk-based approach would mean,
“We can manage the virus in a way that is proportionate to the pandemic, while maintaining the freedoms that are so important to us all.”
Rules for over 18s
From 16th August anyone who has been received two Covid-19 jabs that are a close contact of a positive case will no longer have to self isolate.
He explained that they would instead be asked to take a PCR test as soon as possible to get certainty about their condition. Anyone who gets their second does just before or just after the 16th August will need to wait two weeks to allow the second jab to take effect.
As you would imagine, anyone who tests positive will have to self isolate.
Rules for under 18s
The rules for those under 18 are slightly different.
From 16th August, ahead of the autumn school term, if anyone under 18-year-old is a close contact of positive case, they also won’t be required to self isolate,
Instead they will be given advice about whether they should get tested, dependent on their age and will only need to self isolate if tested positive.
International travel
He said the Government were also looking at International travel and the removal of the need to self isolate after returning from ‘amber’ listed country.
An update was expected later in the week.
Defence against the virus
Mr Javid said the change to restrictions had been made possible because of the vaccine.
“The vaccine has been our wall of defence, jab by jab, brick by brick, we have been building a defence against this virus.”
Image: findafuture under CC BY 2.0
