Newcastle's Director of Public Health has warned the public that, just because the rules around Covid self-isolation have changed does not mean they should be ignored.
Speaking to a meeting of Newcastle City Council's City Futures Board, Prof Eugene Milne said it was important people remembered that they need to have two negative tests if they are to leave isolation five days after testing positive.
Prof Milne also emphasised that vaccination, regular testing and following the isolation rules was essential in "keeping on top" of the coronavirus pandemic.
Go here for the latest regional affairs and North East politics news
He said: "We need to make sure that people understand the rules around self isolation. And try to limit and contain the spread further because the last thing we need now is a new variant which is more dominant than Omicron because that would set us back.
"The best way that we can keep on top of it is by suppressing the spread and that means continuing to take the precautionary measures hands face space, fresh air and getting the vaccine to protect ourselves, our families and our communities."
The public health chief said he understood there were again "large quantities" of Covid-19 tests available - but explained he was concerned people might begin to ignore the rules in place.
He told the meeting that, as of Tuesday, there had been 1,371 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people in Newcastle over the previous seven days.
"My bigger worry is really that people might start to think that the rules are becoming less relevant," he said. "Given those large numbers that we've described, it really is important that people continue to isolate for the appropriate period, that they do those tests and don't stop their isolation if they're still likely to be infected."
Though the mandatory isolation period if you test positive has been reduced to a minimum of five days, this only applies if you both have negative tests on two consecutive days and do not have a high temperature.
Otherwise you must continue to isolate until that point - though after ten days you are able to exit isolation.
This comes as the Government confirmed the Plan B regulations would be allowed to expire on January 26, facemask requirements in schools would be dropped, and the mandatory self-isolation rules will cancelled by late March.
In our area Covid rates are much higher than they were when Plan B was instigated - then Newcastle's rate was the comparatively low 407.4 per 100,000 people over seven days.
Council leader Coun Nick Forbes asked Prof Milne to reiterate the rules as they stand at the meeting, and added: "Anecdotally, chatting to a number of members this morning and last night, people have heard the five day bits, but not all the bits around testing regularly, waiting for two negative tests in a row and self isolating if you still have symptoms.
"And it's really important that we continue to explain that to people to ask people to continue to abide by those rules because that's the best way that we prevent further spread of Covid."
