NI agrees to major change of 14 day self-isolation rule

Along with his English, Scottish and Welsh counterparts, Dr. McBride, has agreed to reduce the number of days individuals must self-isolate from 14 days to 10.

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The change will apply from 00:01 on Monday December 14.

The four CMOs representing England (Professor Chris Whitty), Scotland (Dr Gregor Smith), Wales (Dr Frank Atherton) and Northern Ireland issued a joint statement on the decision to change the rule.

“Self-isolation is essential to reducing the spread of COVID as it breaks the chains of transmission.

“After reviewing the evidence, we are now confident that we can reduce the number of days that contacts self-isolate from 14 days to 10 days.

“People who return from countries which are not on the travel corridor list should also self-isolate for 10 days instead of 14 days.”

The four CMOs added: “People who test positive should continue to self-isolate for 10 days from onset of symptoms or 10 days from point of taking a positive test if asymptomatic.

“We urge everyone to self-isolate when appropriate, it will save lives.”

The Northern Ireland Covid-19 Apps - StopCOVID NI app and COVIDCare NI - will be updated to reflect the changes from Monday December 14.

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