NHS Test and Trace

The NHS test and trace service has now closed. Your employer may contact you if you test positive for coronavirus so that you can share any information requested to help track contacts and reduce the spread of the virus within your workplace.

There is some specific guidance for health and social care staff, patients and residents.

NHS staff who have had close contact with someone with Covid-19 must still self-isolate. This does not apply to staff who are fully vaccinated.  However, staff who are fully vaccinated who wish to return to work should have a PCR test and take daily rapid LFD tests for 10 days and must self-isolate if any tests are positive. Close contact excludes circumstances where PPE is being worn in accordance with current guidance.

For staff who are not fully vaccinated self-isolation for 10 days is required even if you have no symptoms. If subsequent tests prove negative you should continue to isolate for the 10-day period. If you test positive you must continue to stay home for 10 days or until the symptoms have passed.

Staff who are hospitalised with Covid-19 will be isolated for the original period of 10 days. Patients in hospital with Covid-19 will also be isolated for 10 days.

The NHS Test and Trace services has now closed.

Social care staff who test positive for coronavirus must continue to self isolate. 

There is some specific guidance for health and social care staff, patients and residents.

Social care staff who have had close contact with someone with Covid-19 must self-isolate, unless you are fully vaccinated. If fully vaccinated and a close contact you may return to work if you have a negative PCR test and have negative daily LFD tests for 10 days. If you develop symptoms of coronavirus you should self-isolate for a minimum of 10 days. You are permitted to leave self-isolation to get a test or to take a home test to a priority post box.

Close contact excludes circumstances where PPE is being worn in accordance with current guidance. As with anyone else who is not fully vaccinated, self-isolation for 10 days is required even if you have no symptoms. If subsequent tests prove negative you should continue to isolate for the 10-day period. If you test positive you must continue to stay home for 10 days or until the symptoms have passed.

Residents who test positive for coronavirus should be isolated for 10 days.  The same applies to new residents who test positive arriving from other settings.

The NHS test and trace service has now closed.

If you test positive or have symptoms of coronavirus you are still advised to stay at home for 10 days or until the symptoms have passed. If your symptoms get worse you should contact the NHS 111 online service or call NHS 111. You can choose to end self-isolation early by getting two consecutive negative LFD tests from day 5 of your isolation period.

There is guidance on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The NHS test and trace service has now closed.  

If you test positive or have symptoms of coronavirus you are still advised to stay at home for 10 days or until the symptoms have passed. If your symptoms get worse you should contact the NHS 111 online service or call NHS 111. You can choose to end self-isolation early by getting two consecutive negative LFD tests from day 5 of your isolation period.

There is guidance on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The NHS COVID-19 app is a multi-function support tool to help in the surveillance of coronavirus and the delivery of the test and trace service (via venue check-in and contact tracing), to enable more direct action to contain outbreaks and to help people check symptoms, book a test and receive test results.  App users remain anonymous; no personal data is logged - the app tracks the virus, not the people using it. The app is available to everyone aged 16 or over and in multiple languages. All major mobile network providers have agreed that all in-app activity will not come out of customers' data allowance.

The NHS Covid-19 app has six key features:

1) Trace - alerts you if you are in close contact with a confirmed case;

2) Alert - provides you with the risk level for Covid-19 in the area you are in;

3) Check-in - allows you to check in to locations using the app and the official NHS QR codes;

4) Symptoms - allows you to check symptoms agains government guidance and get advice;

5) Test - allows you to order a free test and get results via the app;

6) Isolate - counts down the isolation period and links you to advice.

As the NHS Test and Trace service has now closed the App is being updated. It is possible that a number of the features described above may be disabled or remodelled. Further information will be provided in due course.

The NHS Covid-19 app website has a section on more common questions, covering the use of the app, data and privacy, technical queries and other topics - https://faq.covid19.nhs.uk/

All schools and further education colleges have been given specific guidance on the use of the Covid-19 app and the QR codes (see the link below).

Use of the NHS Covid-19 app in schools and further education colleges

A demo video about using the app has also been produced - Demo Video

Please note: to install and use the NHS COVID-19 app, your phone will need Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 4 or above and Operating System software Android Marshmallow (v6.0) or iOS 13.5 or above, to load and run the app effectively. This is because the app needs the Exposure Notification framework developed by Apple and Google, which is only available in these versions. The app can be downloaded from the Apple Store or from Google Play.