Nhs test and trace

Thursday

Melissa Kite

Why I hate WhatsApp

‘My phone says I can’t go out until Tuesday, so I can’t come and meet you,’ said my friend. And she repeated this down the line several times, as I insisted I did not understand. I had nipped outside the hairdresser with my hair in highlighter foils to take her call and was standing on the street, phone tucked under the silver-paper flaps, a stiff wind blowing. I assumed she must be saying something else and I had misheard. ‘It’s the app on my phone,’ she explained. ‘I’ve counted the days myself and I should be able to go out today, but my phone says I have to stay in

Friday

Kate Andrews

Will fewer days fix the UK’s self-isolation problem?

From Monday, the guidance for self-isolation is changing. Previously if you were told by officials (or the NHS app) you had been in close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19, you were expected to self-isolate for 14 days. Starting next week, this will be reduced to 10 days, and will also apply to those returning from ‘high risk’ travel areas that are not on the UK’s ‘green list’. The update was issued as a joint statement from the UK chief medical officers, who said: ‘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.’