Isolation and quarantine period to be cut from 14 days to 10 in Wales

The coronavirus isolation period for people in Wales is to be reduced from 14 days to 10.

The reduction will take effect from Thursday.

The Welsh Government said the new time period had been endorsed by the country’s chief medical officer Dr Frank Atherton and is based on current evidence around likelihood of being infectious as a contact after 10 days.

The new self-isolation and quarantine advice will apply to: people who have received a positive test result for Covid-19; people with symptoms; those awaiting a test result; people living in households with someone who shows symptoms or who has tested positive; close contacts of positive cases; and travellers returning from non-exempt countries.

Minister for health and social services Vaughan Gething said: “We know that self-isolating is hard for people and we believe families, communities and business will welcome the announcement today to safely reduce the days in which people have to isolate.

“Self-isolation and quarantine play a key role in stopping the spread of the coronavirus and I want to thank everyone who continues to follow the rules and play their role in keeping Wales safe.”

The NHS Covid-19 app’s countdown timer – which keeps track of how long people need to self-isolate – will update for users in Wales to the new 10-day system from December 17.