A group of 25 doctors have written to the health secretary, Matt Hancock, to question the UK’s policy of seven-days isolation for suspected coronavirus cases.
The guidance says people who develop symptoms should isolate themselves for seven days.
However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends people should only end their isolation after 14 days without symptoms.
In a letter to Mr Hancock, Professor Allyson Pollock, a public health expert at Newcastle University, and 24 of her colleagues warned of a “risk of infection beyond seven days from symptom onset”.
The letter added: “This has been reported to range from day 10 of symptoms to up to 24 days after symptom onset.”
The UK guidance says those with a high temperature or new continuous cough should self-isolate at home for seven days, and if they do not have a temperature at the end of that period they can end self-isolation.
It says this can be done even if they still have a cough, as this can “last for several weeks after the infection has gone”.
The WHO’s guidelines state people should only be released once they test negative for Covid-19 twice, or if they have had no symptoms for two weeks.
This is far more relaxed than WHO recommendations, which advise that people should isolate at home and should only be released once they test negative for Covid-19 twice (two tests taken at least 24 hours apart), or if it has been two weeks since they last showed symptoms.
The doctors’ letter also raised their concerns about the “narrow spectrum of symptoms the UK is using as an indication for self-isolation,” pointing to symptoms commonly reported in coronavirus patients, including sore throat, fatigue, shortness of breath and myalgia.
“We are aware that other countries are using a broader range of symptoms for self-isolation,” the letter states.
The Independent has contaced the Department of Health for comment.
A spokesperson told the BBC: “The government’s response to this virus and all clinical guidance is led by science and a world-renowned team of clinicians, public health experts and scientists – including epidemiologists – working round the clock to keep us safe.”
