Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance entitled: Covid-19: management of staff and exposed patients or residents in health and social care settings, for what reason there are differences in the self-isolation rules for care home (a) staff and (b) residents.

The guidance entitled “COVID-19: management of staff and exposed patients or residents in health and social care settings” was updated on 17 January 2022. This allows staff who develop COVID-19 symptoms or who have tested positive on a lateral flow device (LFD) test or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to end their isolation earlier. They can now end their isolation on the sixth day, provided they have two consecutive negative LFD tests. The guidance for staff who are contacts of a case has not changed.

The guidance “Admission and care of residents in a care home setting during COVID-19” recommends that care home residents should self-isolate for 14 days if they have COVID-19, if they have symptoms or if they are a contact of someone with COVID-19.

The reason for this difference is that this is a precautionary approach to reduce risk of transmission within a care home setting, for those with underlying health conditions which may affect their immune system and may mean they remain infectious for longer.