[Withdrawn] NHS Test and Trace: what to do if you are contacted (2023)

How NHS Test and Trace helps fight the virus

NHS Test and Trace helps to control the rate of reproduction (R), reduce the spread of the infection and save lives.

What has changed

The self-isolation advice for people with coronavirus (COVID-19) has changed. It is now possible to end self-isolation after 5 full days if you have 2 negative LFD tests taken on consecutive days. The first LFD test should not be taken before the fifth day after your symptoms started (or the day your test was taken if you did not have symptoms). The self-isolation period remains 10 full days for those without negative results from 2 LFD tests taken a day apart.

Main messages

COVID-19 infection rates are very high.

Play your part:

• if you have any of the main symptoms, even if they’re mild, stay at home and self-isolate straight away and get a PCR test (a test that is sent to a lab), to check if you have COVID-19 as soon as possible
• if you have any of the main symptoms you should stay at home to self-isolate and not have visitors until you get your test result – at this stage (until the test result is known), people you have been in contact with do not need to self-isolate, but they should follow advice on how to avoid catching and spreading COVID-19
• if you do not have symptoms, but test positive on a home LFD test, you should report your result and self-isolate – you do not need to take a follow-up PCR test
• if you test positive for COVID-19, and are asked by NHS Test and Trace, you must share information promptly and accurately about members of your household
• you should also share information about other recent contacts through NHS Test and Trace to help us alert other people who may need to be advised to get tested and/or to self-isolate
• if you have had close contact with someone who has COVID-19, you should follow any advice you are given on getting tested and you must self-isolate if NHS Test and Trace advises you to do so
• if you are arriving from travel abroad it is important to follow the rules on testing and check whether you need to follow additional rules on quarantine and testing

Self-isolation means you should remain at home. Do not go to work, school or public areas and do not use public transport or taxis. Members of your household may also need to self-isolate. The guidance for households with possible COVID-19 infection page has more information on self-isolation.

A ‘contact’ is a person you’ve been in close contact with if you’ve tested positive for COVID-19. This includes people you live with and people outside your household.

You must self-isolate if you are identified as a contact and told by NHS Test and Trace. Failure to self-isolate for the full time-period can result in a fine, starting from £1,000.

If you have symptoms of COVID-19 or a positive test result

If you have any of the main symptoms of COVID-19 – a high temperature, a new continuous cough, or a loss or change to your normal sense of smell or taste – even if mild, arrange to have a PCR test (a test that is sent to a lab) to check if you have COVID-19 as soon as possible.

You should stay at home and not have any visitors (self-isolate) until you get your test result.

You do not need to take a PCR test if you have already taken an LFD test and the result was positive. If you develop any of the main symptoms of COVID-19 and you are concerned, or your symptoms are worsening, contact 111 or speak to your GP. In an emergency dial 999.

If you are notified by NHS Test and Trace of a positive PCR test result or notified by NHS Test and Trace to self-isolate after reporting a positive LFD result, you must self-isolate and will be given guidance on when your self-isolation period can end.

Read further guidance on what to do if you test positive. Your self-isolation period includes the day your symptoms started and the next 10 full days.

You may be able to end your self-isolation period before the end of the 10 full days. You can take an LFD test from 5 days after the day your symptoms started (or the day your test was taken if you did not have symptoms), and another LFD test on the following day. If both these test results are negative, and you do not have a high temperature, you may end your self-isolation after the second negative test result.

Report your LFD test results after taking each test.

You should not take an LFD test before the fifth day of your self-isolation period, and you should only end your self-isolation following 2 negative LFD tests taken on consecutive days. You should stop testing after you have had 2 consecutive negative test results.

This means that if, for example, your symptoms started at any time on the 15th of the month (or if you did not have symptoms but your first positive COVID-19 test was taken on the 15th), you may take daily LFD tests from the 20th. If your LFD test results are negative on the 20th and 21st, and you do not have a high temperature, you may end your isolation period after the negative test result on the 21st.

If both your LFD test results are negative, it is likely that you were not infectious at the time the tests were taken. To further reduce the chance of passing COVID-19 on to others, if you end your self-isolation period before 10 full days, you are strongly advised to:

• limit close contact with other people outside your household, especially in crowded, enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces
• work from home if you are able to
• in addition to venues where it is a legal requirement, wear a face covering in crowded, enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces and where you are in close contact with other people
• limit contact with anyone who is at higher risk of severe illness if infected with COVID-19
• follow the guidance on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread of COVID-19

You should follow this advice until 10 full days from when your self-isolation period started.

You will be unable to use either your domestic or travel NHS COVID Pass for 10 days following a positive test result.

There is additional guidance for those working in health and social care settings.

If you test positive for COVID-19, you may be contacted by the NHS or your local council and must provide information to help the NHS alert your close contacts.

When you can leave your home while self-isolating

In exceptional circumstances, you may need to temporarily leave self-isolation. You should have considered all other options first. The below section on ‘support for people who are self-isolating’ may be useful. If you have no other options, you should think about how you can limit contact with other people. The exceptional circumstances where you may leave self-isolation are to:

• post a PCR test or antibody test at a Royal Mail priority post box
• attend (or accompany a child to) a COVID-19 testing site
• take part in NHS COVID-19 research, but only if you are asked to leave self-isolation
• agree to take part in a testing scheme where that agreement cannot be given from home
• get urgent health services for you, your family and pets
• avoid harm, for instance if there is a fire or you are at risk of domestic abuse
• move to a different place when it becomes impractical to stay where you are, for instance, if your house has been damaged by a fire or flood
• access critical public services, including social services, and to access services provided to victims of crime, for instance if there has been a burglary
• help someone who is pregnant to go to a medical appointment, or to give birth
• get food or medicine if you cannot order it online or by phone, or you cannot ask someone to bring it to your home
• go to the funeral of a close family member
• meet legal duties such as going to court, taking part in court proceedings, or following bail conditions

There are some exceptional circumstances for temporarily leaving self-isolation that do not apply if you have tested positive for COVID-19. These are to:

• take part in NHS COVID-19 research
• help someone who is pregnant to go to a medical appointment, or to give birth

What to do when you are waiting for your PCR test result

If you have any of the main symptoms of COVID-19 you should self-isolate whilst you wait for your test result. If your PCR test result is negative, and you are exempt from self-isolation as a contact, you do not need to self-isolate. This does not guarantee you do not have COVID-19, so you should follow advice on how to avoid catching and spreading COVID-19. Read further guidance on what to do if you test negative.

If you are a close contact and you are not exempt from self-isolation (see exemptions below) and you have been notified by NHS Test and Trace that you are legally required to self-isolate, you must self-isolate whilst you wait for your test result and you must continue to do so even if you have a negative result. This is because you could still become infectious during the 10-day isolation period.

Telling people that you have symptoms

If you develop symptoms, you may wish to alert the people with whom you have had close contact over the last 2 days. You should tell them that you might have COVID-19 but are waiting for a test result.

At this stage (until the test result is known), those people do not need to self-isolate, but they should follow advice on how to avoid catching and spreading COVID-19.

They should also check the list of main symptoms and book a PCR test if they develop any of these.

You may want to write down your recent close contacts now so that you have them to hand if you test positive.

If you get a positive PCR test result or report a positive LFD test result, NHS Test and Trace will contact you and ask you to share information about any close contacts you had just before or after you developed symptoms or, if you did not have symptoms, just before or after the date of your test. This is vital to stop the spread of the virus.

NHS Test and Trace will contact you by text message, email or phone. If you are under 18 years old, we will speak to your parent or guardian.

You will be sent a link to the NHS Test and Trace website and asked to create a confidential account where you can record details about your recent close contacts. If you do not have internet access or if you don’t complete the online process, one of our contact tracers will phone you to gather this information from you.

The information you give will be handled in strict confidence and will only be kept and used in line with data protection laws. It will help us to contact people who are at risk of having been exposed to COVID-19, explain what they should do to help prevent the further spread of the virus and provide advice.

Some local authorities have their own contact tracing teams who are employed by the local council. NHS Test and Trace may pass your details to these local teams. These teams work with local public health experts and will usually contact you by phone and text. They may visit you at your home to ask you to make further contact with them or to ask about your contacts.

When we contact people to advise them to get a test or self-isolate (or both), we do not tell them your identity. But if you have alerted them when you first develop symptoms or when you get your test result, they will be better prepared for the advice we give them.

When we contact you

If NHS Test and Trace contacts you, the service will use text messages, email or phone.

All texts or emails will ask you to sign into one of these 2 NHS portals:

• NHS Test and Trace
• NHS Test and Trace contact tracing

NHS Test and Trace will only ever call you from the phone number
0300 013 5000.

All information you provide to NHS Test and Trace is held in strict confidence and will be kept and used in line with the Data Protection Act 2018.

Contact tracers will:

• call you from 0300 013 5000 – local contact tracers will contact you from a local council number but if you’re unsure if this is genuine, contact your local council for advice
• send you text messages from ‘NHStracing’
• ask you to sign into either NHS Test and Trace or NHS Test and Trace contact tracing
• ask for your full name to confirm your identity, and postcode to offer support if you are required to self-isolate
• ask about the COVID-19 symptoms you have been experiencing
• ask you to provide the name, telephone number and/or email address of anyone you have had close contact with in the 2 days prior to your symptoms starting
• ask if anyone you have been in contact with is under 18 or lives outside of England

Contact tracers will never:

• ask you to dial a premium rate number to speak to us (for example, those starting 09 or 087)
• ask you to make any form of payment or purchase a product or any kind
• ask for any details about your bank account
• ask for your social media identities or login details, or those of your contacts
• ask you for any passwords or PINs, or ask you to set up any passwords or PINs over the phone
• disclose any of your personal or medical information to your contacts
• provide medical advice on the treatment of any potential COVID-19 symptoms
• ask you to download any software to your PC or ask you to hand over control of your PC, smartphone or tablet to anyone else
• ask you to access any website that does not belong to the government or NHS

What we will ask you

We will ask you:

• if you have family members or other household members living with you. Unless they are exempt, they must continue to self-isolate for the rest of the 10-day period from when your symptoms began or, if you did not have symptoms, from the date of your test
• if you have had any close contact with anyone other than members of your household. We are interested in the 2 days before you developed symptoms and the time since you developed symptoms. Close contact means:
  • having face-to-face contact with someone less than 1 metre away (this will include times where you have worn a face covering or a face mask)
  • having been within 2 metres of someone for more than 15 minutes (either as a one-off contact, or added up together over one day)travelling in a car or other small vehicle with someone (even on a short journey) or close to them on a plane
• if you work in, or have recently visited, a setting with other people (for example, a GP surgery, a school or a workplace) – the use of face masks and other forms of PPE does not exclude somebody from being considered a close contact, unless they are providing direct care with patients or residents in a health and care setting

We will ask you to provide, where possible, the names and contact details (for example, email address, telephone number) of the people you have had close contact with. As with your own details these will be held in strict confidence and will be kept and used only in line with data protection laws.

If NHS Test and Trace identify you as a contact, you are not exempt from self-isolation, and you work in a critical service where the instruction for you to self-isolate would have impact on providing that critical service, your employer will need to escalate this to the local health protection team (HPT) for a risk-assessment.

How this information is used

Based on the information you provide, we will assess whether we need to alert your contacts and provide them with advice on steps they should take to protect their family, friends and local community.

We may refer the case to local public health experts if you work in or have recently visited:

• a health or care setting, such as a hospital or care home
• a prison or other secure setting
• a school for people with special needs
• critical national infrastructure or areas vital for national security
• when NHS Test and Trace has been unable to contact you after an agreed amount of time and your local authority has set up a system to take over your case

Local public health experts are UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) staff and teams employed by your local authority, who work together with all parts of the local community to prevent or respond to local outbreaks.

If you’re contacted by NHS Test and Trace because you’ve been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19

How you will be contacted

If you are under 18 years old, we will contact you by phone wherever possible and ask for consent from your parent or guardian to continue the call.

If you’re aged 18 or over, we will generally contact you by text message or email but will follow up by phone if we don’t get a response. If we only have a landline number for you, we will contact you on that number.

If you have internet access, we will ask you to log onto the NHS Test and Trace website. This is the simplest way of giving you the information you need.

If you do not have internet access, we will arrange for a trained call handler to speak to you by phone. They will provide you with the necessary public health advice and give you an opportunity to ask any questions.

NHS Test and Trace will check whether you’re legally required to self-isolate.

When we contact you

If NHS Test and Trace contacts you, the service will use text messages, email or phone.

All texts or emails will ask you to sign into the NHS Test and Trace contact tracing website.

If NHS Test and Trace calls you by phone, the service will be using the phone number 0300 013 5000.

All information you provide to NHS Test and Trace is held in strict confidence and will only be kept and used in line with the Data Protection Act 2018.

Contact tracers will:

• call you from 0300 013 5000
• send you text messages from ‘NHS’
• ask for your full name and date of birth to confirm your identity, and postcode to offer support if you are required to self-isolate
• ask if you are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms
• provide advice on what you must do as you have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19

Contact tracers will never:

• ask you to dial a premium rate number to speak to us (for example, those starting 09 or 087)
• ask you to make any form of payment or purchase a product of any kind
• ask for any details about your bank account
• ask for your social media identities or login details, or those of your contacts
• ask you for any passwords or PINs, or ask you to set up any passwords or PINs over the phone
• disclose any of your personal or medical information to your contacts
• provide medical advice on the treatment of any potential COVID-19 symptoms
• ask you to download any software to your PC or ask you to hand over control of your PC, smartphone or tablet to anyone else
• ask you to access any website that does not belong to government or the NHS

You are not legally required to self-isolate if you are notified you have had close contact with someone with COVID-19 and any of the following apply:

• you’re fully vaccinated
• you’re below the age of 18 years
• you’ve taken part in or are currently part of an approved COVID-19 vaccine trial
• you’re not able to get vaccinated for medical reasons

If you are aged 5 years and over and have been identified as a contact of someone with COVID-19, but are not legally required to self-isolate, you are strongly advised to:

• take an LFD test every day for 7 days, or until 10 days since your last contact with the person who tested positive for COVID-19 if this is earlier
• take this daily LFD test before you leave the household for the first time that day

If you take an LFD test and the result is positive, you should immediately self-isolate, report the result and follow the advice for people with COVID-19.

If your daily LFD test result is negative, it is likely that you were not infectious at the time the test was taken. To further reduce the chance of passing COVID-19 on to others, you are strongly advised:

• to limit close contact with other people outside your household, especially in crowded, enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces
• to work from home if you are able to
• in addition to venues where it is a legal requirement, to wear a face covering in crowded, enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces and where you are in close contact with other people
• to limit contact with anyone who is at higher risk of severe illness if infected with COVID-19
• to follow the guidance on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread of COVID-19

Follow this advice for 10 full days after your most recent contact with the person who has tested positive with COVID-19, or if the person is in your household, until the household member who has COVID-19 reaches the end of their self-isolation period.

Children and young people aged under 18 years who usually attend an education or childcare setting and who have been identified as a close contact should continue to attend the setting as normal.

Regular LFD tests are not recommended for children aged under 5. If they live with someone who has COVID-19, or have been identified as a contact of someone with COVID-19 who they do not live with, they are not legally required to self-isolate, but you should limit their contact with anyone who is at higher risk of severe illness if infected with COVID-19. If they live with someone who has COVID-19, you should arrange for them to take a PCR test as soon as possible.

Those who are fully vaccinated

You’re fully vaccinated 14 days after your final dose of an MHRA approved vaccine. having received two doses of an approved vaccine or one dose of the single-dose Janssen vaccine.

This is to allow for an antibody response to develop.

Approved vaccines include:

• MHRA-approved vaccines
• vaccines administered as part of the UK’s vaccination programme overseas
• vaccines administered outside the UK, which are recognised under the UK’s inbound travel policy and are on the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Use Listing

You will also be considered fully vaccinated if you received one vaccine dose in the UK and one overseas, even if each dose is of a different vaccine, as long as the vaccination used for each dose meets one of the three criteria above.

If you were vaccinated outside the UK, you must be able to show an approved proof of vaccination if asked by NHS Test and Trace, a public health official or an enforcement officer.

If you were fully vaccinated at the time you had close contact with a positive case, you will not be required to self-isolate but should follow the guidance above on daily testing.

Those who have recently turned 18

Contacts will not be legally required to self-isolate regardless of their vaccination status if they’re under 18. If you’re 18 years old, the guidance is that you’ll be treated in the same way as those under 18 up until the age of 18 years and 6 months, to allow you time to become fully vaccinated.

Children and young people

The NHS is now offering COVID-19 vaccinations to children and young people aged 12 to 17 years. Further information on eligibility and timing can be found here.

Clinical trials and medical exemptions

If you have taken part, or are currently taking part, in a (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) MHRA-approved clinical COVID-19 vaccine trial, or if you can show evidence that you cannot get vaccinated against COVID-19 for medical reasons, you will not be required to self-isolate but should follow the guidance above on daily testing.

You’ll need to be able to show evidence that you’re unable to receive a COVID-19 vaccination for medical reasons. You can now apply for a medical exemption. If approved, your NHS COVID Pass can then be used to show that you are exempt from self-isolation if you are a contact of a positive case. Further information and how to apply for a medical exemption can be found here.

If you’re exempt from self-isolation as a contact but develop COVID-19 symptoms

If you have or develop the main symptoms of COVID-19, even if these are mild, you should arrange to have a PCR test as soon as possible, even if you’ve had a positive PCR result in the last 90 days. You should stay at home until you receive your test result and follow the guidance for people with COVID-19 symptoms.

If you’re exempt from self-isolation as a contact but have tested positive for COVID-19

If you’re notified by NHS Test and Trace that you have tested positive for COVID-19 you will need to self-isolate regardless of whether you are exempt from self-isolation as a contact. This is still the law.

When self-isolating, follow the stay at home guidance. This will help reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 to other members of your household and community.

Going to work

Please refer to your employer’s advice. If you are exempt from self-isolation, you will usually be able to continue to go to work as normal. However, in certain workplaces, such as in health and social care, you may be asked to take additional precautions.

If you’re exempt from self-isolation, you are not required to inform your employer that you have been contacted by NHS Test and Trace and notified that you are a contact of a positive case, but you may choose to do so. Employers are not expected to check whether you are exempt.

Health and social care workers

If you’re a health or social care worker, or work in a health or social care setting, who has been identified as a contact and are exempt from self-isolation, there is additional guidance available that you should follow to reduce the risk of spread of COVID-19 in these settings. See COVID-19: management of staff and exposed patients and residents in health and social care settings.

If you have had close contact with someone who has COVID-19 and you are not exempt from self-isolation

If you are identified as someone who has had close recent contact with – or live in the same household as – a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 and you are not exempt from self-isolation as a contact, we will notify you that you must self-isolate in line with medical advice and the law. Self-isolation means staying at home and not going outside your home at any time.

If you live in the same household as someone who has tested positive and you are told to self-isolate, you must self-isolate until 10 full days after the person who tested positive first developed symptoms or, if they did not have symptoms, 10 full days after the date of their test.

If you are identified as the contact of someone outside your household who has tested positive, you must self-isolate until 10 full days after you were in contact with the person who has tested positive for COVID-19. This means that if, for example, your last contact with them was at any time on the 15th of the month, your isolation period ends at 23:59 on the 25th.

It is a legal requirement to self-isolate if you are identified as a contact and told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace. Self-isolating is crucial to avoid unknowingly spreading the virus. Failure to self-isolate for the full time-period can result in a fine, starting from £1,000.

You may be feeling well and not have any symptoms, but it is still essential for you to follow the instructions that you are given.

This is because, if you have been infected, you could be infectious to others. Some people infected with the virus don’t show any symptoms at all and it is therefore crucial to self-isolate to avoid unknowingly spreading the virus.

If you live with other people, they do not need to self-isolate, but you should follow advice on how to avoid spreading COVID-19 to people you live with. If you do not live with other people, you should seek help from others, or delivery services, for essential activities such as food shopping. Self-isolation can be particularly challenging if you are looking after children, or if you care for vulnerable people who cannot stay with friends or family.

You are strongly advised to get a PCR test even if you do not have symptoms, unless you have received a positive PCR test result within the previous 90 days. Children aged 4 and under will not be advised to take a test unless the positive case was someone in their own household.

Read the further guidance on getting a free PCR test. If you choose to get a test, you must continue to self-isolate, even if your result is negative. This is because you could still become infectious.

If your PCR test result is positive, follow the advice for people with COVID-19 to stay at home and start a further 10-day self-isolation period, regardless of where you are in your original 10-day self-isolation period.There is further information on what to do with your test results in the guidance for people who live with someone who has COVID-19 and the guidance for non-household contacts.

If you go on to develop the main symptoms you should report your symptoms and get a PCR test. You can leave self-isolation to get a COVID-19 test at a test site or to take a home test to a priority post box. Anyone you live with, unless they are fully vaccinated or under 18 years and 6 months, should also self-isolate while you wait for your test result.

Support for people who are self-isolating

We will direct you to your local authority helpline if you are required to self-isolate and need the following support:

• practical or social support for yourself
• support for someone you care for
• financial support

Your local authority can help you access the local support available to you while self-isolating. If you cannot rely on support from family, friends and neighbours, your local authority may be able to help you access food or assist with caring responsibilities, as well as mental health, loneliness and digital support. You can find more information, including the helpline number, on your local authority’s website.

The NHS volunteer responders programme remains active and support can be accessed by calling 0808 196 3646.

If you’re unable to collect your prescription medication because you’re self-isolating, a free medicines delivery service is available. First, you should ask if any friends, family or volunteers can collect medicines for you. If friends and family are not able to collect your medicines for you, and you or the pharmacy are unable to arrange for a volunteer through the NHS volunteer responders programme, then you will be eligible for free medicines delivery.

Contact your pharmacy to tell them that you’re self-isolating and need your medicines delivered, and they will arrange this free of charge.

Pharmacies will not be able to deliver your medicines unless you provide them with your unique contact tracing reference number.

Employers should support workers who are told to self-isolate and must not ask them to attend work. See the guidance on the NHS Test and Trace service for employers, businesses and workers. If you are in employment, speak to your employer to discuss if you can work from home or other options are available during your period of isolation.

Workers in self-isolation are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for every day they are in isolation, as long as they meet the eligibility conditions. Guidance has been produced for employees that are unable to work because they are self-isolating.

NHS Test and Trace will provide evidence that someone has been told to self-isolate. This evidence can be shared with an employer or education provider. Get an isolation note if you need evidence that you’ve been told to self-isolate.

You may be entitled to a one-off payment of £500 through the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme if you are required to stay at home and self-isolate. You should go to your local authority’s website for more information. You will be eligible if you live in England and meet all the following criteria:

• you have been told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace
• you are employed or self-employed
• you cannot work from home and will lose income as a result
• you are receiving at least one of the following benefits:
  • Universal Credit
  • Working Tax Credits
  • income-related Employment and Support Allowance
  • income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • Income Support
  • Pension Credit
  • Housing Benefit

If you are not on one of these benefits, you might still be eligible for a £500 discretionary payment from your local authority. See Test and Trace Support Payment scheme: claiming financial support.

The NHS COVID-19 app

The NHS COVID-19 app, which is available to download for free in England and Wales, is the fastest way to see if you’re at risk from COVID-19. The faster you know, the quicker you can alert and protect your loved ones and community.

The app has a number of tools to protect you, including contact tracing, local area alerts and venue check-in. It uses proven technology from Apple and Google, designed to protect every user’s privacy.