From Monday 1st June a team of 25,000 NHS contact tracers will contact anyone who has been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 and advise them to isolate for 14 days.
If you’re told you’ve been in contact with a person who has coronavirus you should self-isolate at home for 14 days from when you were last in contact with the person, not leave home for any reason, do not have visitors to your home except for essential care and try to avoid contact with anyone you live with as much as possible. Anyone you live with does not need to self-isolate if they do not have symptoms. If you live with someone at higher risk from the virus and you are asked to self-isolate you should try to arrange for them to stay with friends or family for 14 days.
If you get symptoms of coronavirus you should use NHS 111 online to find out what to do to get a test, call 111 if you cannot use the online system. Anyone you live with must self-isolate at home until you’ve been tested and received your result.
When you get your test result if you test negative you should keep self-isolating until the original 14 days have passed as you could still develop symptoms, however, anyone you live with can stop self-isolating.
If you test positive you should self-isolate for at least 7 more days after your symptoms started, even if it means you’re isolating for longer than 14 days and anyone you live with must self-isolate for 14 days from when your symptoms started.
If you do not get symptoms you can stop self-isolating after 14 days and you do not need a test.
How NHS Test and Trace will contact you:
- You'll be contacted by email, text or phone;
- Text messages will come from the NHS. Calls will come from 0300 0135000;
- Children under 18 will be contacted by phone wherever possible and asked for their parent or guardian's permission to continue the call;
- You'll be asked to sign in to the NHS Test and Trace contact tracing website at https://contact-tracing.phe.gov.uk;
- If you cannot use the contact tracing website, they will call you.
IMPORTANT - The NHS Test and Trace service will not:
- Ask for bank details or payments,
- Ask for details of any other accounts, such as social media,
- Ask you to set up a password or PIN number over the phone,
- Ask you to call a premium rate number, such as those starting 09 or 087.
For more information on Test and Trace click here.