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Latest Covid-19 Guidance
Published
22/02/22
Latest Government Response

The government is removing remaining domestic restrictions in England. There are still steps you can take to reduce the risk of catching and spreading COVID-19:

  • Get vaccinated
  • Let fresh air in if meeting indoors, or meet outside
  • Consider wearing a face covering in crowded, enclosed spaces
  • Get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms, and stay at home if positive

COVID-19 Guidance 

Testing

  • From 21 February, the Government is removing the guidance for staff and students in most education and childcare settings to undertake twice weekly asymptomatic testing.
  • From 1 April, the Government will no longer provide free universal symptomatic and asymptomatic testing for the general public in England.
  • From 1 April, there will be some limited ongoing free testing:
  • Limited symptomatic testing available for a small number of at-risk groups - the Government will set out further details on which groups will be eligible.
  • Free symptomatic testing will remain available to social care staff

Isolation

  • The legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive COVID-19 test will end on 24 February.
  • Positive cases will be advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for at least five full days and continue following this advice until they have received two negative test results on consecutive days.
  • Household close contacts are advised to work from home if possible, avoid contact with high risk individuals and limit close contact with other people. Non-household contacts are advised to follow more general advice on ventilation, wearing masks and hygiene.
  • From 24 March, the COVID-19 provisions within Statutory Sick Pay and Employment and Support Allowance regulations will end. People with COVID-19 may still be eligible, subject to the normal conditions of entitlement.

Advice for the former CEV group and people whose immune system means they are at higher risk

  • The shielding programme ended on 15 September 2021 and the government wrote to everyone on the Shielded Patient List at this time informing them of this. There is no longer a centrally defined Clinically Extremely Vulnerable group or Shielded Patient List.
  • There is a smaller group of people for whom vaccines may be less effective because of their immune system. There is separate guidance for this group containing additional public health advice and information on vaccinations and treatments. This guidance will be updated in due course.

What this means for adult social care

  • While the vast majority of care recipients in adult social care are vaccinated, individuals are still at a greater risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 relative to the general population, and the transmission risk remains high in vulnerable settings due to the kind of close contact care individuals receive. Therefore, the current protections will remain in place for those in adult social care settings.
  • As we ease restrictions in society and restrictions on freedoms in care settings, it therefore remains important to ensure that robust protections are in place in vulnerable settings to continue keeping staff and care recipients safe as we transition to living with COVID. For advice on caring for people in adult social care settings, please see the Coronavirus (COVID-19): adult social care guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
  • The Government will carefully review measures in adult social care settings further over the coming weeks where staff care for the most vulnerable in society. The updated position will be set out in out in guidance by 1 April.
Gov.uk Covid-19 Guidance
Visit the Gov.uk website

Useful resources for unpaid carers:

Visit the government website here if you have a medical condition which may increase your risk of contracting covid-19, or you believe makes you clinically 'vulnerable'. 

Join a group

If you are struggling and looking for extra support from other experiencing similar things to yourself, please look at joining some of our regular groups within your area:

Please see below for a step-by-step guide:

Those using the online NHS covid pass service on the NHS website can skip to step 4.

  1. Log onto the NHS App and the first screen is an individual's home screen which will also display their name and date of birth.
  2. Click on the “Get your NHS COVID Pass” link
  3. You may need to click on “Continue”.
  4. Then select the “Domestic” link.
  5. This will bring up the Domestic NHS COVID NHS COVID Pass screen with an individual’s name and Date of Birth, a 2D Barcode and a green shimmer ‘valid’ banner:
  6. This is not valid for proving vaccination status to enter a care home. Therefore they should scroll down to and select “View COVID-19 records”.
  7. The COVID-19 vaccine records can now be shown.

Online Help and Advice

Visit our online support section where we have provided advice and guidance on a range of relevant topics to help you in your caring role.

Online support