Britain will cut its quarantine period for incoming travellers or people who have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19 from 14 to 10 days from Monday.
The new rule will apply to all four UK nations, for those visiting from countries not on the British travel corridor list. The law already applies in Wales, following an announcement by its government earlier this week.
The UK's chief medical officers made the announcement on Friday when, after a review of the latest Covid-19 data, the health chiefs said they were “confident” the isolation period could be shortened.
"Self-isolation is essential to reducing the spread of Covid as it breaks the chains of transmission," they said. "After reviewing the evidence, we are now confident that we can reduce the number of days that contacts self-isolate from 14 to 10.
"People who return from countries which are not on the travel corridor list should also self-isolate for 10 days instead of 14 days. 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."
They urged everyone, in order to save lives, to self-isolate when appropriate.
On Thursday, Saudi Arabia was added to the list of safe travel countries for the UK, meaning visitors will no longer have to isolate on arrival.
[ The UAE has been on the UK’s safe travel corridor since November 14. ]
Those who breach quarantine rules when returning from non-exempt countries could face a £1,000 fine for a first offence, rising to £10,000 for subsequent offences.
The British government is also starting a test and release programme next week, where travellers arriving in England can reduce their quarantine to five days if they pay for a Covid-19 test that comes back negative.
The tests cost between £65 and £120 and will begin on Tuesday. They will be open to people from countries not in the travel corridor.
