Self-isolation and quarantine period decreased to ten days in Wales
11 December 2020
The Welsh Government has published a press release that confirms that the length of time that individuals will have to self-isolate for in relation to coronavirus will be reduced from 14 days to ten in Wales, as of 14 December 2020.
The Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dr. Frank Atherton has endorsed this reduction, on the basis of the evidence that is currently available in relation to the likelihood of an individual being infectious when in contact with other people, after a period of ten days.
The Minister for Health and Social Services has allowed an amendment to the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 4) (Wales) Regulations on the basis of this advice.
Anyone who is returning from a non-exempt country will now also only be required to quarantine for a period of ten days as opposed to14, and this is reflected in the Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (Wales) Regulations 2020).
Previously, those who had come into contact with individuals who have coronavirus and those returning from non-exempt countries were legally required to self-isolate for 14 days, unless they later tested positive, in which case they would have had to isolate for a period of ten days following the date of the positive test.
The amended advice on self-isolation and quarantine will be applicable to:
- Anyone who has received a positive test result for coronavirus
- People who are symptomatic of coronavirus, and are waiting for a test result, or those who have not been tested and do not require hospital treatment, but who must remain at home for the relevant self-isolation period
- Those living in households with someone exhibiting symptoms that could be caused by coronavirus, or who has received a positive coronavirus test result
- Close contacts of positive cases of coronavirus
- Those individuals returning from travel to a non-exempt country
The information in this article is accurate at the time of publication. For all the latest information, news and resources on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting payroll professions, visit our Coronavirus hub.