Covid self-isolation period cut from ten days to seven

The Covid self-isolation requirement has been cut from ten to seven days.

Nicola Sturgeon confirmed the change would come into force on Thursday morning in a statement to Holyrood on Wednesday.

The move brings Scotland’s self-isolation rules into line with the rest of the UK.

It comes amidst a host of staff shortages in sectors across Scotland, with ScotRail having introduced a temporary timetable with cuts to around 160 services.

In her statement to the Scottish Parliament, the First Minister said that anyone who tests positive for Covid-19, regardless of vaccination status, must still self-isolate for 10 days.

However, from January 6 new cases will be advised they can end self-isolation if they do not have a fever and test negative on a lateral flow device (LFD) on day six and again at least 24 hours later.

In addition, household contacts of confirmed cases will no longer have to self-isolate for 10 days, instead taking lateral flow tests for seven days and isolating if any of these are positive.

Sturgeon explained that anyone identified as a close contact who is over-18 and four months, and not fully vaccinated, meaning two vaccines and a booster shot, will still be asked to self-isolate for 10 days and to take a PCR test.

In the latest statistics for Scotland, 16,103 positive cases were recorded on Tuesday, with 1223 people in hospital with Covid.

Addressing Holyrood virtually, Sturgeon told MSPs that Covid is “significantly more widespread now than at any stage in the pandemic so far”.