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Health chiefs were under pressure last night to make urgent reforms to ‘outdated’ Covid isolation rules which force hospitals to quarantine patients for 14 days.
Experts warned that hospitals were being ‘crippled’ by the rules, which force patients into two weeks of quarantine even if they are only a close contact of a Covid sufferer.
Currently, most people have to isolate for as little as seven days if they test positive for Covid. If they are a close contact of someone with the virus, they no longer need to isolate at all if they are fully vaccinated.
But in hospital any patient who tests positive – or who comes into close contact with a confirmed case – has to be treated in isolation for 14 days. They have to remain in quarantine even if they later test negative.
Last night campaigners warned that the stringent regulations were having a ‘devastating’ effect on hospital capacity. They said that entire wards were being forced into isolation while the rules were making it difficult to move patients around within hospitals or to discharge them.
Experts warned that hospitals were being ‘crippled’ by the rules, which force patients into two weeks of quarantine even if they are only a close contact of a Covid sufferer (stock image)
It came as it emerged that 200 troops are being sent to London hospitals to fill in for NHS staff who are isolating after contracting Covid. The soldiers, including 40 specialist medics, were requested by NHS trusts.
The medics will help staff with patient care while other personnel will assist on wards and with duties such as checking in patients and conducting basic health checks. In other developments:
Holiday bookings surged by more than 400 per cent for some hotspots after ministers drastically scaled back travel testing rules; It emerged people who fail to get a booster jab could face new travel restrictions from next month; The Prime Minister urged people to ignore the ‘complete mumbo jumbo’ peddled by anti-vaxxers; It was reported that trusts will be told to get ready to dismiss staff who refuse the vaccine as soon as next month; Officials admitted they did not definitely know if masks were effective in halting the spread of Covid in schools.Hospitals’ stringent rules on Covid isolation were originally brought in to prevent the spread of Covid on the wards, but they have not been adjusted to account for the rollout of the vaccine or evidence that the Omicron variant is much milder.
The UK Health Security Agency is understood to be reviewing the guidance. However, last night experts called for action now.
