People who test positive for Covid will have to self-isolate for five full days rather than seven, Sajid Javid has announced.
From Monday, they will be able to come out of quarantine on day six, if tests show they are negative.
“From Monday, people can leave isolation at the start of day six, subject to two negative lateral flow tests taken a day apart, with the first of these tests being no sooner than Day 5.”
The Government had been under pressure to bring the situation in England into line with the United States, where the isolation period had alreday been cut to five days.
The decision is likely to be welcomed by Tories who have called for the change and could help ease pressure on the embattled Prime Minister.
It will also help address staff shortages across the economy and public services by allowing people to return to work earlier.
The health service has been under intense pressure because of high Covid rates, leading to both hospital admissions and staff absences increasing.
A total of 40,031 NHS staff at hospital trusts in England were absent for Covid-19 reasons on January 9, up 2 per cent on the previous week (39,142) - and more than three times the number at the start of December.
But NHS England data shows that hospital staff absences due to Covid have dropped every day since reaching a peak of 49,941 on January 5.
The total includes staff who were ill with coronavirus or who were having to self-isolate.
