SELF-ISOLATION rules in care homes have been reduced or entirely removed to bring restrictions closer in line with the general public.
People transferring from hospitals to care homes will no longer need to isolate if they have had a negative PCR test in the previous 48 hours, are showing no signs of symptoms and have not been exposed to Covid-19 over the previous 14 days.
Isolation for care home residents testing positive for COVID-19, or for close contacts of COVID cases, is also being cut from 14 days to 10.
While esidents who have been in hospital for acute overnight stays will also no longer need to isolate, and will not need a negative PCR test.
Social Care Minister Kevin Stewart also stressed the importance of care homes supporting indoor visiting.
There are to be no set limits to the number of households visiting each resident.
It comes after data released last week showed the number of Scottish care homes offering essential visits only has quadrupled amid a surge in Covid deaths and infections.
READ MORE: Third of Scottish care homes now restricting visits
Mr Stewart said: “We know isolating for longer time periods can be distressing and harmful for care home residents and for their loved ones.
"Reducing the length of time care home residents have to isolate if they catch COVID, or are identified as close contacts, reflects the ongoing risks facing people who live communally, in a homely environment with other care home residents, many of whom have long term conditions.
“It is also crucial that care homes continue to support indoor visiting. Yesterday the First Minister advised the lifting of guidance limiting the number of households meeting indoors. However, she stressed that it would be sensible for people to remain cautious in their social interactions for the time being.
“We, therefore, recommend that there should be no set limits to the number of households visiting each resident, Care homes will determine group sizes and numbers taking into account the size of the visiting area and other factors.
“As before there should be no restrictions placed on frequency and duration of visiting which will be guided by care home arrangements and circumstances.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here