There still seems to be a bit of confusion about the self isolation requirements and it did seem yesterday as if members of any household with symptoms would all need to self isolate (not be able to come to work and be eligible for SSP) for 14 days…but there was still this idea of 7 days floating about….
Cue more reading and we have a bit more clarity!
- if you live alone and you have symptoms of coronavirus illness (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started
- this remains the advice as stated
- if you live with others and you or one of them have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The self isolation 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill
- this advice is to take account of other members of the household becoming infected after a period of incubation
- the govt advice regarding ending self isolation clarifies (or confuses depending on your perspective!) this further:
- If you have been symptomatic, then you may end your self-isolation after 7 days if you are well (the fever has gone). The 7-day period starts from the day when you first became ill
- If living with others, then all householdmembers who remain well may end household-isolation after 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day illness began in the first person to become ill. Fourteen days is the incubation period for coronavirus; people who remain well after 14 days are unlikely to be infectious.
- After 7 days, if the first person to become ill feels better and no longer has a high temperature, they can return to their normal routine. If any other family members become unwell during the 14-day household-isolation period, they should follow the same advice – that is, after 7 days of their symptoms starting, if they feel better and no longer have a high temperature, they can also return to their normal routine.
- Should a household member develop coronavirus symptoms late in the 14-day household-isolation period (for example, on day 13 or day 14) the isolation period does not need to be extended, but the person with the new symptoms has to stay at home for 7 days. The 14-day household-isolation period will have greatly reduced the overall amount of infection the rest of the household could pass on, and it is not necessary to re-start 14 days of isolation for the whole household. This will have provided a high level of community protection. Further isolation of members of this household will provide very little additional community protection.
- At the end of the 14-day period, any family member who has not become unwell can leave household isolation.
- If any ill person in the household has not had any signs of improvement and have not already sought medical advice, they should contact NHS 111 online. If your home has no internet access, you should call NHS 111.
- The cough may persist for several weeks in some people, despite the coronavirus infection having cleared. A persistent cough alone does not mean someone must continue to self-isolate for more than 7 days.
Of course this may be a moot point if people are working from home anyway but until then the above applies.