Coronavirus self-isolation period could increase to 10 days

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has hinted that the length of time people with coronavirus symptoms must self-isolate for will be increased to 10 days in England.

Asked about the move, he told Sky News: ‘This is a decision that’s clinically led. The chief medical officer will be setting out details later today.

‘I can’t steal his thunder but what I will say is we will always do what is necessary to protect people and we’re guided by the clinical judgment, by the science in this.’

Hancock also said ministers were investigating ways to reduce the 14-day quarantine period for new arrivals to the UK from at-risk countries.

Asked about reports, he told Sky News: ‘We’re always looking at how we can have the least-possible burden of the measures that we have to put into place so that is something on which we’re doing some work but we’ll only come forward with a proposal when we’re confident that it is safe to do so.

‘So again this is very much guided by the clinical science and the CMO (chief medical officer) will be speaking on it later today, but the broader point is that there’s a serious concern about a second wave that’s clearly now moving across Europe and we need to take action.’

He told BBC Breakfast there would be no changes in the next few days to quarantine rules for people returning from overseas, including Spain.

It comes as the government seeks to prevent a second wave.

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Hancock told Sky News: ‘I think you can see a second wave starting to roll across Europe and we’ve got to do everything we can to prevent it from reaching these shores and to tackle it.

‘The measures that the chief medical officer will set out later are part of that but so too are the measures we’re taking, for instance to ensure that we don’t directly bring cases back to this country where there’s a big spike in cases.

‘So absolutely on a second wave it is something I worry about and I worry about it because we can see it happening.’

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