There is an 'increased risk' associated with changes to isolation rules, a Covid-19 expert has said today (Monday, January 17).
Dr Mike Tildesley, from the University of Warwick and a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M) was speaking on BBC Breakfast as changes to self-isolation guidance come into force.
People now can leave quarantine after five full days, so long as they test negative on days five and six.
Dr Tildesley said “It is a big change, we do need to remember that from an epidemiological perspective any relaxation in testing like that is going to have an increased risk attached to it but of course, I totally understand it’s a practical thing.
“We’re seeing an awful lot of absences, and it’s particularly concerning in healthcare at the moment actually, so if we can reduce the isolation period then that will allow more people to get back to work
“Of course, important to remember that is done with two negative tests – so you can’t come out of isolation until the sixth day with a second negative test. And if you don’t get a negative test, you have to stay in isolation potentially even until day 10 so hopefully that mitigates some of the risk.”
But he hoped that by the end of the year the nation would have a “flu-type” relationship with Covid-19.
He told the programme: “Say we get into a situation where the virus becomes very, very mild and we are living alongside it – we’re not there yet, but hopefully we will be at some point this year – then we do need to talk about not just cases but also hospital admissions and the number of people who are dying with the disease.
“If we can get those numbers as low as possible then hopefully we can see restrictions removed and we can live alongside the virus.”
He added: “A while ago I did say probably January is going to be a little bit rocky, if this wave starts to turn around and hopefully as we get towards the warmer weather we can start to see these restrictions removed and we can have more of a discussion about what living with Covid is going to be like and hopefully we won’t see a return to restrictions as we get further through the year.”
Dr Tildesley said that, generally speaking, new variants of viruses tend to be more transmissible but “also generally milder”, adding: “So my hope is that as we get further into this year and next year, we are dealing with milder versions of Covid and hopefully we have more of a flu-type relationship with Covid where potentially we protect the vulnerable as we get into the colder weather, but we don’t see a return of restrictions.”
