Stay at home to stop Coronavirus spreading

Everyone must stay at home to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

You should only leave the house for 1 of 4 reasons:

• shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible
• one form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle – alone or with members of your household
• any medical need, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person
• travelling to and from work, but only where this absolutely cannot be done from hom

Self-isolating at home

Do not leave your home if you have symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) or live with someone who does.

This is called self-isolation.

If you are self-isolating, you must:

• not leave your home for any reason, other than to exercise once a day – but stay at least 2 metres (3 steps) away from other people
• not go out to buy food or collect medicine – order them by phone or online, or ask someone else to drop them off at your home
• not have visitors, such as friends and family, in your home

You can use your garden, if you have one.

How long to self-isolate for?

If you have symptoms of coronavirus, you'll need to self-isolate for 7 days.

After 7 days:

• if you do not have a high temperature, you do not need to self-isolate
• if you still have a high temperature, keep self-isolating until your temperature returns to normal

You do not need to self-isolate if you just have a cough after 7 days. A cough can last for several weeks after the infection has gone.

If you live with someone who has symptoms, you'll need to self-isolate for 14 days from the day their symptoms started. This is because it can take 14 days for symptoms to appear.

If more than 1 person at home has symptoms, self-isolate for 14 days from the day the first person started having symptoms.

If you get symptoms, self-isolate for 7 days from when your symptoms start, even if it means you're self-isolating for longer than 14 days.

If you do not get symptoms, you can stop self-isolating after 14 days.

After self-isolation, you still need to stay at home when you finish self-isolating, but you can go out for essential trips such as buying food.

More information from the NHS page