Reduction from 10 to 7 Days

From today 6 January, new cases will be advised they can end self-isolation if they don’t have a fever and test negative on a Lateral Flow Device (LFD) on Day 6 and again at least 24 hours later.

Triple vaccinated close contacts of those who test positive, both household and non-household, or those under the age of 18 and four months, do not need to isolate as long as they return a negative LFD test result each day for seven consecutive days, and remain fever free.

Any close contact who is not fully vaccinated (three doses) will still have to self-isolate for the 10 days and take a PCR test.

Announcing the easing up of isolation restrictions, FM of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon said that the changes were ‘significant’ and ‘justified’.

Nicola Sturgeon said:

“We are now in a very different position – and so we can now adopt different rules.

“They balance the importance of self-isolation – in slowing the virus’s spread and reducing the harm it can cause – with the wider harms to the economy that broader self-isolation rules can cause.”

Getting a Lateral Flow Test.

People in Scotland who need a Lateral Flow Test can do so in the following ways:

• By ordering online for home delivery.  A box of 7 lateral flow test will arrive within 24-48 hours.  Additional booking slots are added throughout the day.
• At over 1,000 Community Pharmacies.  People will be able to collect one pack of 7 lateral flow tests. Pharmacies can receive a box of around 60 packs of lateral flow tests each day.
• At over 60 Testing Sites.  People will be able to collect one pack of 7 lateral flow tests from any regional or local test site in Scotland.
• At many other collect points established by Local Authorities.  Follow this link to find information on additional local sites in your community.
• From where they learn or where they work if in education, health and social care or any workplace with more than 10 employees which have signed up for our workplace testing programme.

Since the start of the outbreak:

• 9,872 people have died who have tested positive as at 5 January
• 12,372 deaths have been registered in Scotland where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate up to 19 December

The Covid variants that are now moving about the world, which is still mostly unvaccinated, and in particular the Omicron variant, have produced a surge in cases.

Countries like New Zealand are still doing very much better than Scotland but it too has seen a rise in positive cases and deaths which now total 51.

Globally, as of 4:53pm CET, 5 January 2022, there have been 293,750,692 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5,454,131 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 3 January 2022, a total of 8,693,832,171 vaccine doses have been administered.

WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard