Testing and Self-Isolation

The guidance for COVID-19 is rapidly changing all the time. The latest guidance is below. 

Try to stay at home and away from others

Try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if you: have any symptoms of COVID-19, and have a high temperature or you do not feel well enough to go to work or do your normal activities have tested positive for COVID-19 – this means it's very likely you have the virus.

IMPORTANT: You should avoid being in close contact with people at higher risk of COVID-19.  

This is particularly important if their immune system means they’re at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19, even if they’ve had a COVID-19 vaccine.

What to do if you've tested positive for COVID-19

If you have COVID-19, you can pass on the virus to other people for up to 10 days from when your infection starts. Many people will no longer be infectious to others after 5 days.

You should do the following:

• try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 5 days.
• avoid meeting people at higher risk from COVID-19 for 10 days, especially if their immune system means they’re at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19, even if they’ve had a COVID-19 vaccine

This starts from the day after you did the test.

If a child or young person aged 18 or under tests positive for COVID-19, they should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days. This starts from the day after they did the test.

Children and young people tend to be infectious to others for less time than adults. If they’re well and do not have a temperature after 3 days, there’s a much lower risk that they’ll pass on COVID-19 to others.