It will not be a legal requirement for fully vaccinated people in England to take coronavirus tests to avoid self-isolation if ‘pinged’ from August 16, according to reports.

People who have been double jabbed will no longer have to self-isolate when coming into contact with positive cases from August 16 and it was expected that people would need to take a test to break free from isolation.

RELEVANT NEWS:

But unless you are displaying symptoms you will reportedly be advised to take a test rather than it being mandatory, according to Sky News.

It comes as Boris Johnson stressed the need for caution despite recent falls in the number of coronavirus cases as he warned that the virus “still presents a significant risk”.

The Prime Minister erred on the side of caution but admitted the consistent drop in cases was “encouraging”.

Asked about the prospect of looking back on the pandemic in October, the Prime Minister told LBC Radio: “We’ve seen some encouraging recent data, there’s no question about that, but it is far, far too early to draw any general conclusions.”

He added: “The most important thing is for people to recognise that the current situation still calls for a lot of caution and for people just to remember that the virus is still out there, that a lot of people have got it, it still presents a significant risk.”

And asked whether it was certain that those fully vaccinated would be able to escape having to self-isolate from next month if they come into contact with a positive coronavirus case, the Conservative Party leader said: “August 16 is nailed on – there has never been any question of a review date for August 16.

“I’m very pleased that this is a country that now has the highest proportion of vaccinated adults of any country in the world – that is enabling us to make the economic progress we are.”

In the first week of July, more than half a million people were told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid-19 app with that number continuing to rise.

As things stand, the app is only advisory, although it is strongly recommended that you self-isolate when told to do so, there is no legal requirement for people to follow its guidance.

However, if you are contacted by NHS Test and Trace you are legally obliged to self-isolate when told to do so.

This rule could change on August 16 when the government hopes fully vaccinated people in England will not need to self-isolate unless they get symptoms of Covid-19.