The guidance around Covid-19 will soon change again as infection rates in nearly every authority area in England continue to rise amid confirmed cases of a new 'hybrid' variant in the UK.
In the week ending March 6, the rates went up in 311 of the council areas in England (98.7pc) - including all 10 boroughs in Greater Manchester - and went down in the remaining four, according to Public Health England.
It comes ahead of another planned change to Government guidance on April 1, which will end free testing for most people and modify the wording around Covid-19 precautions.
Bringing the guidance more in line with the public health information around other infectious diseases, people will be asked to limit passing on Covid-19 through a number of measures including 'trying' to stay at home when unwell as opposed to the current advice that they should to do so for at least five days. The legal requirement to self-isolate was ended last month.
READ MORE: Greater Manchester's coronavirus infection rates rise in all ten boroughs again
Scientists believe the uptick in cases to be driven by waning booster vaccines, a return to pre-covid socialising amid the lifting of restrictions, and two new potentially more transmissible variants,
Dubbed the ‘stealth variant’, BA.2 is a close relative of Omicron but there are fears it’s more transmissible. ‘Deltacron’, meanwhile, is a mutant hybrid of Omicron and Delta, with cases in the UK now confirmed and the WHO preparing to give an update.
It's currently thought the symptoms of high temperature, a new continuous cough or loss or change to sense of smell or taste remain the same with all variants. The number of people being admitted to hospital is also on the rise, amid calls for a fourth dose to be offered more widely than the current roll-out to the immunocompromised, care home residents and anyone aged at least 75.
Sajid Javid has said this would be kept ‘under review’ pending expert advice.
Changes from April 1
In the meantime, April 1 will see free universal Covid tests for the general public scrapped in England, with some testing remaining in place for the most vulnerable. Others will have to pay.
Venues will no longer have to use the NHS COVID Pass, while the NHS App will continue to allow people to access their vaccination and recovery status for international travel. Although the legal requirement to stay at home if you test positive was ended last month, with people instead 'advised' to remain at home and avoid contact with other people for at least five days or have received two negative test results, the wording around this will change again next month.
The new emphasis will be on ‘safer behaviours’ to reduce the risk of infection. This will include getting vaccinated, good ventilation or meeting outside, wearing a face mask in enclosed spaces, trying to stay at home if you are unwell and taking a test if you have symptoms, as well as frequent hand washing.
Although self-isolation is no longer written in law, the NHS is still advising people to stay at home if they test positive, and avoid contact with other people.
Greater Manchester infection rates
It comes as rates in Greater Manchester, continue to rise in every single borough, with Trafford replacing Stockport on Friday as the worst area, recording 359.5 cases per 100,000 people in the week ending March 7, according to the latest data from the UK Health Security Agency.
The lowest rate, meanwhile, was in Rochdale, with 160.1 cases per 100,000 people. In Greater Manchester as a whole the rate is 258.8 cases per 100,000 population, which is lower than the national average of 427.4.
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However, it still represents a 47 per cent rise in cases compared to the previous week - up by 2,340 positive tests. The sharpest rises have been in southern coastal areas including Worthing, where the infection rate is 719.8 cases per 100,000 people, Somerset West and Taunton.
The most recently available data for hospital admissions, meanwhile, shows that a total of 335 patients were admitted to Greater Manchester NHS hospitals with Covid-19. That is 27 more than the week before, a rise of nine per cent. In the week ending March 7, a total of 19 people died within 28 days of a positive Covid test across Greater Manchester, which is 12 fewer than the week before.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 909,995 confirmed coronavirus cases in Greater Manchester. There have been 8,794 deaths.
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