U.K. Shortens COVID Isolation Period In England

On Wednesday, the British government announced it would be shortening the COVID-19 self-isolation time in England from ten days down to seven days.

The Guardian reported, “[p]eople who receive negative results from tests taken 24 hours apart on day six and day seven of their self-isolation period will no longer have to self-isolate for the full 10 days, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.”

The government’s website noted, “[t]here is no change to the guidance for unvaccinated contacts of positive COVID-19 cases, who are still required to self-isolate for 10 full days after their date of exposure to the virus.”

People who come out of the isolation on or following the seventh day are “strongly advised” to restrict their close interactions with others “in crowded or poorly ventilated spaces, work from home and minimise contact with anyone who is at higher risk of severe illness if infected with COVID-19,” per the website. 

Health secretary Sajid Javid said, “We are reducing the self-isolation period from 10 days to seven if you test negative on a lateral flow test for two days running. It’s vital people keep playing their part by testing regularly and isolating if they test positive. And I urge you to get boosted now to protect yourself and those around you.” 

Javid also stated, “We want to reduce the disruption from COVID-19 to people’s everyday lives.”

The UKHSA chief executive Dr. Jenny Harries noted, “Covid-19 is spreading quickly among the population and the pace at which Omicron is transmitting may pose a risk to running our critical public services during winter,” adding, “This new guidance will help break chains of transmission and minimise the impact on lives and livelihoods. It is crucial that people carry out their lateral flow tests as the new guidance states and continue to follow public health advice.”

The news comes as countries around the world and states across the U.S. respond to the highly transmissible Omicron variant that is also believed to have less severe symptoms than other variants. 

As The Daily Wire reported earlier on Wednesday, the UKHSA “found that those who contract Omicron are less likely to become severely ill compared to people who get the Delta variant, according to the data, reports Politico.” 

“More people are likely to have a mild illness with less serious symptoms — probably in part due to Britain’s large number of vaccinated and previously infected people, and possibly because Omicron may be intrinsically milder,” Politico reported. “Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has previously cautioned against too much optimism based on the initial optimistic signs from South Africa in the past few weeks. However, the UKHSA’s view after studying cases in Britain is that Omicron is indeed usually less severe than Delta.” 

But the report included one caveat. “The less good news is that while Omicron seems milder overall, the UKHSA has found it is not necessarily mild enough to avoid large numbers of hospitalizations. The experts have found evidence that for those who do become severely ill, there is still a high chance of hospitalization and death.” 

“The UKHSA has also confirmed that transmissibility of Omicron is very high, meaning that even though it is milder, infections could rocket to the point large numbers still end up in hospital — essentially negating the reduction in severity. NHS staff shortages due to widespread infections also have to be taken into account. Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that there was still ‘uncertainty’ on exactly how severe Omicron is, and how this impacts the hospitalization rate,” said the report.

The Daily Wire added, “Another UK study of early data about the Omicron variant has found that the most common symptoms are akin to the common cold.”

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