UK government cuts COVID isolation period to 5 days, from 7

By SYLVIA HUI
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — British officials say the self-isolation period for people in England who test positive for COVID-19 will be reduced from next week to five full days, instead of seven. Health Secretary Sajid Javid also said Thursday that early signs suggest the rate of hospitalization from the coronavirus is starting to slow. Javid told Parliament that official data suggested that two-thirds of people are no longer infectious by the end of the fifth day after they test positive. He said that starting Monday, those infected can leave isolation from the start of day 6 after taking two negative tests. The U.K. saw record numbers of daily confirmed infections over Christmas and New Year.