Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that the Covid self-isolation period will be cut from seven to five days.
Mr Javid said reducing the self-isolation period would help with staff absences in the workplace.
A total of 40,031 NHS staff at hospital trusts in England were absent for Covid-19 reasons on January 9, up 2% on the previous week (39,142) – and more than three times the number at the start of December.
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The current UK Health Security Agency guidance is for cases to isolate for at least six full days from the point at which they have symptoms or get a positive test, whichever is first, with release from self-isolation after two negative lateral flow test results on days six and seven.
The changes announced today will see people being allowed to leave self-isolation after completing five full days, with negative tests on days five and six.
Mr Javid said the measures showed how the UK was "leading the world in learning to live with Covid".
He said: "I've always said to the house, that any curbs on our freedoms must be an absolute last resort, and that we shouldn't keep them in place for a day longer than absolutely necessary.
"With this in mind we've been reviewing the isolation period for positive cases, to make sure the measures we have in place, maximise activity in the economy and education for example, but also minimise the risk of infectious people leaving isolation.
"After reviewing all of the evidence, we've made the decision to reduce the minimum self isolation period to five full days in England.
"From Monday, people can test twice before they leave in isolation at the start of day six."
He added: "We've now entered the third year of this country's fight against Covid-19 and thanks to the incredible national endeavour, we're now better protected than ever before.
"But this virus is not going away. There will be more variants, and no one can be shown what threat they might pose.
"But we can be sure that our pharmaceutical defences, vaccines, testing and antivirals are the best way to protect our health and our freedoms as we learn to live with Covid."
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