People who test positive for coronavirus in England will only have to self-isolate for five full days from next week.
Under the new rules, people will have isolate for at least five full days, starting at 12.01am the day after their positive test or the start of symptoms.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that people who test negative for coronavirus on lateral flow tests on day five and at the start of day six of isolation can then leave their homes.
READ MORE - Elated Aldi shoppers say 85p product gives them 'best night's sleep ever'
He told the Commons: "UKHSA data shows that around two-thirds of positive cases are no longer infectious by the end of day five and we want to use the testing capacity that we've built up to help these people leave isolation safely.
"These two tests are critical to these balanced and proportionate plans, and I'd urge everyone to take advantage of the capacity we have built up in tests so we can restore the freedoms to this country while we're keeping everyone safe."
Currently people who test positive for Covid can be freed midway through their seventh full day of isolation, if they test negative on days six and seven.
However, Mr Javid has said today that the period will be slashed by between 24 and 48 hours, after huge pressure from Tory MPs and a staffing crisis in the NHS.
In Scotland as standard, those who test positive for Covid-19 on a lateral flow test or PCR need to isolate for 10 days.
But the rules were recently changed to state that you can end isolation after day seven if you test negative on day six and day seven of your isolation period.
If you keep testing positive, even a faint line, you must isolate for the whole 10 days.
