If you know that you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive during the infectious phase, you should avoid contact with people you know are at higher risk of serious illness if they contract COVID-19 despite vaccination. If you have been informed by NHS Test and Trace that you are a contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, you are required by law to stay home and self-isolate if you are over 18 years and 6 months old and are not fully vaccinated. If you have been told that you do not need to self-isolate, but you develop symptoms of COVID-19, get tested for PCR as soon as possible and stay home until you get the result. Self-isolation is one of the most important things we can do to stop the spread of the virus and protect our friends and family, our community and the NHS. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, have tested positive, or have been told that you have been in contact with someone with COVID-19, self-isolation is the only way to ensure that you are not transmitting COVID-19 to others. If you are asked to self-isolate, you must do so immediately. Find out what support you can get if you are affected by COVID-19. If you have been informed by NHS Test and Trace that you are a contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 but has not been able to tell you when you have been in contact with that person, you should take an LFD test every day for 7 days. If you do not have symptoms of COVID-19, but have a positive PCR test result, you will need to stay home and self-isolate. You should stay home and avoid contact with others until you no longer have high temperatures or feel better. You can ask your friends, family, or neighbours for food and other essentials. If you feel well enough to work, you should work from home whenever possible.
If you can`t work from home, talk to your employer about options. If you have been asked to attend a doctor`s or dentist`s appointment in person, let them know about your symptoms. Unless you are required by law to self-isolate as a contact, it is strongly advised to take a rapid LFD test every day for 7 days or up to 10 days after your last contact with the person who tested positive for COVID-19, whichever is earlier. LFD tests are very effective at identifying people with high concentrations of coronavirus and are more likely to transmit the infection to others, even if you don`t have symptoms. If any of these test results are positive, you should immediately isolate yourself and order a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. If you are 18 years of age or older, we will usually contact you by SMS or email, but also by phone if we do not receive a response. If we only have a landline number for you, we will contact you at that number. By law, you must self-isolate if you test positive for COVID-19 or if you are identified as a contact and asked to self-isolate. Failure to self-isolate for the entire period may result in a fine of £1,000 or more. Based on the information you provide, we will assess whether we need to inform your contacts and advise them on steps to take to protect their family, friends and the local community. Individuals 5 years of age or older who have been identified as a COVID-19 contact person and who are not legally required to self-isolate are now strongly advised to take a lateral flow test (LFD) every day for 7 days or up to 10 days after their last contact with the person who tested positive for COVID-19, if earlier.
If one of these LFD tests is positive, they must self-isolate to protect others. If you experience symptoms of COVID-19 at any time after the end of your initial isolation period, you and your household should follow the steps outlined in this guide again. If you were fully vaccinated by the time you were in close contact with a positive case, you do not need to self-isolate, but you should follow the instructions above for daily testing. You should work from home and minimize contact with people who are at higher risk of serious illness. Let extractor hoods (e.g. in bathrooms) run longer than usual with the door closed after use. COVID-19 in the UK is being transmitted between people. There is little evidence that some animals, including pets, can become infected with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) after close contact with infected humans.
If you are testing because you are a close contact and are not exempt from self-isolation (see exceptions below) and you have been informed by NHS Test and Trace that you are legally obliged to self-isolate, you will need to self-isolate pending your test result, and you must continue to do so if you have a negative result. This is because you could still become infectious during the 10-day isolation period. If you are in contact with someone with COVID-19 but do not live with them or have not stayed in their household overnight, you are less likely to be infected. You don`t have to follow all the advice. However, you should pay close attention to the main symptoms of COVID-19. If you do develop them, it is advisable to stay home and follow the instructions for people with symptoms. However, those who leave self-isolation after seven days are « highly recommended » to limit close contact with people in overcrowded or poorly ventilated rooms. You should not take an LFD test after the 10th day of your isolation period and you can stop self-isolation after that day. This is because you are unlikely to be contagious after the 10th day of your isolation period. Even if you have a positive LFD test result on the 10th day of your self-isolation, you should not have any further LFD tests after that day.
If you are concerned, you can follow the advice above up to 14 days after you start your self-isolation. Contact your pharmacy to let them know that you need to self-isolate and that your medications need to be delivered, and they`ll arrange this for free. Please follow your employer`s advice. If you are released from self-isolation, you can usually continue working as usual. However, in some workplaces, such as health and social services, you may be asked to take extra precautions. Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 should stay home, self-isolate immediately and order a PCR test. If NHS Test and Trace identifies you as a contact, you are not exempt from self-isolation and you work in an essential service where the self-isolation instruction would affect the provision of that essential service, your employer will need to refer this to the local Health Protection Team (HPT) for a risk assessment. If you are identified as someone who has recently had close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or who lives in the same household as them, and you are not exempt from self-isolation as a contact, we will inform you that you must self-isolate in accordance with medical advice and the law. Self-isolation means staying home and not leaving the house at all times.
We will refer you to your local authority`s helpline if you need self-isolation and need the following assistance: Self-isolation means staying home and not going out. If you are 5 years and over and live in the same household as someone with COVID-19 and are not required by law to self-isolate, you are strongly advised: An overview of the NHS Test and Trace, including what happens if you test positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) or have had close contact with someone who has tested positive. If you live or have been in contact with someone with COVID-19, you do not need to self-isolate if any of the following conditions apply: NHS Test and Trace and the NHS COVID-19 app will check if you need to self-isolate because you have been in contact with someone with COVID-19. If you take an LFD test from the sixth day of your self-isolation and the test result is positive, wait 24 hours before taking the next test. Data from South Africa and the United Kingdom show that the effectiveness of the vaccine against infection for two doses of an mRNA vaccine is about 35%. A booster dose for COVID-19 vaccines restores the vaccine`s effectiveness against infection to 75%. COVID-19 vaccination reduces the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19. The CDC strongly recommends COVID-19 vaccination for everyone 5 years of age and older and booster shots for all people 16 years of age and older.