- That’s all for nowOur rolling coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic is now closing for the day – the page will be back on Thursday morning.You can read about the changes to England’s travel rules here, the changes to PCR tests across the UK here, and the changes to self-isolation rules for cases and contacts in Scotland here.The latest UK data is here – and a snapshot is below. Thanks for reading.
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- Posted at 17:13 5 Jan17:13 5 JanWhat are the latest headlines in the UK?It’s been a busy afternoon of Covid announcements in the UK. In case you missed them, here’s a quick round-up of the key points:
- Pre-departure travel Covid tests to enter England from overseas will be scrapped from 04:00 on Friday – and from Sunday, arrivals won’t need to take a PCR test and isolate before a negative result. Instead, just one lateral flow test will be needed after arrival – with no isolation while waiting for a result
- In another easing of testing rules, the UK Health Security Agency announces that people without symptoms will no longer need to confirm a positive lateral flow test with a PCR test. The change will come into force in England next week and across the rest of the UK within days
- Boris Johnson also says that England will stick with Plan B measures – which include mandatory face masks in most indoor settings, advice to work from home and Covid passports for large venues – and that there will be no tighter restrictions for now
- In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon reduces the self-isolation period from 10 days to seven if a person has no fever and records negative lateral flow results on days six and seven
- In a second change to self-isolation rules, Sturgeon says household contacts of positive cases will be allowed to take daily lateral flow tests for a week rather than having to self-isolate – so long as they are fully vaccinated, which means two doses and a booster jab
- The UK records 194,747 new daily infections and another 334 deaths within 28 days of a positive test (though some of the deaths include a backlog of hospital deaths reported overnight by NHS England covering the period 1 – 4 January)
- And the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tests positive for Covid for a second time
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