Boris Johnson could HALVE the self-isolation period for those who test positive for coronavirus to seven days ‘this week’ after PM declares ‘big push’ to get Britons to comply with the quarantine rules
- Ministers will reduce period to between 10 and seven days as soon as this week
- Polling suggests that people will do as they are told if the period is seven days
- PM said number of people complying with the rules is ‘not yet high enough’
Boris Johnson is expected to halve the self-isolation period for those who test positive for coronavirus as early as this week as ministers battle to make people stick to the rules.
The Prime Minister yesterday outlined a ‘big, big push’ on adherence to quarantine rules during the lockdown amid fears that people are not completing the full 14-day period.
He spelled out his fears that the number of people complying with the rules is ‘not yet high enough’ as he faced MPs in the Commons.
Ministers will reduce the period to between 10 and seven days, with seven days being the most probable number, it is understood. It has been reported that the Government’s private polling suggested that people will do as they are told if the period is seven days.
It comes after the Government last night revealed every resident of Liverpool will be offered a Covid test, in the first major step for Operation Moonshot – the scheme that the Government hopes will help it get on top of the crisis by the spring.
Starting from Friday, the city’s 500,000 residents will be asked to go for regular checks. If successful, the city-wide approach is expected to be rolled out to towns and cities nationwide.
Boris Johnson declared that mass testing, combined with progress on a vaccine and medical treatments, could finally send the virus packing. But there are fears many people may not want to get swabbed, if they have to isolate for 14 days if they test positive for the disease.
The Prime Minister (pictured today) outlined a ‘big, big push’ on adherence to quarantine rules during the lockdown amid fears that people are not completing the full 14-day period.
Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Johnson said: ‘Those who have been contacted need to self-isolate.
‘At the moment the proportion of people who are self-isolating in response to test and trace is not yet high enough.’ His demand comes after MPs lined up to criticise the failing service and its embattled head, Dido Harding.
This week, ministers are expected to announce that quarantine periods will be cut to seven days to boost compliance.
It comes amid fears of widespread flouting of the rules, and a failure of the service to reach more than two thirds of contacts of those who have been infected.
Mr Johnson is said to be very concerned by low levels of compliance and believes reducing the time limit will make it easier for people.
Current rules require those who come into contact with people diagnosed with the virus to isolate for 14 days.
They were was adopted after the World Health Organisation said that 99 per cent of those who had been infected would develop symptoms in that time.
However, according to Public Health England, testing people after seven days would identify 85 per cent of those infected.
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine also found that a seven day quarantine with a test could pick up 94 per cent of those who have been infected.
Last week Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said that ministers were exploring the possibility but said no decisions had yet been made.
It comes after the Government last night announced every resident of Liverpool will be offered a Covid test.
Boris Johnson today thanked leaders in Liverpool for ‘volunteering’ their city for the pilot which, if successful, could finally send the virus packing.
But one of the government’s testing chiefs admitted today that mass-testing in Liverpool will not be able to identify every single case of coronavirus.
Oxford University’s Professor Sir John Bell, chairman of the Government’s New Test Approvals Group, acknowledged today the tests — which will give results within an hour — will only be able to identify the ‘majority’ of infected people.
However, he insisted the colossal scheme, which will involve the army, will still be effective in curbing the spread of the virus because they will find the people most likely to be super-spreaders.
But the president of Britain’s most powerful business lobby group, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), claimed the scheme offers the ‘first true chink of light’ that the virus can be controlled and will enable restrictions ‘to be much more focused’.
And the city’s mayor, Joe Anderson, claimed the trial ‘could enable us to have some semblance of a normal Christmas here in Liverpool’, if it is successful.