Good Morning Britain’s Dr Hilary Jones has advised that holidaymakers returning from a country on the quarantine list should self-isolate for 14 days regardless of taking a coronavirus test.
The GP joined Adil Ray and Charlotte Hawkins on today’s programme where he discussed the new rules which see people returning from the likes of Netherlands and France required to quarantine.
‘There’s no point in people having tests and people relying on those tests 100% absolutely and then not quarantining if you have been exposed to the virus, potentially because it doesn’t rule it out,’ Dr Hilary explained.
‘We know that people can have false-negative tests and therefore we have to have a system where people quarantine if they’ve possibly been exposed to the virus to protect everybody else.
‘It can take a while for the test to become positive.’
Dr Hilary continued: ‘It can be five days before you get symptoms, up to 14 days in fact. And anywhere during that time, the test can go from negative to positive.
‘You’ve got to interpret the result according to the circumstances.’
Dr Hilary said that self-testing is difficult to carry out, which is why there are false-negative tests.
‘Anyone who’s had the test is that it’s pretty unpleasant,’ he added. ‘When you have a swab taken at the back of the throat and then in both nostrils, the test is quite uncomfortable.
‘If it doesn’t bring tears to your eyes, you’re not doing it properly. And that is why self-testing is difficult to do.’
Travellers arriving from France and the Netherlands after 4am are now required to quarantine for 14 days due to fears over rising numbers of coronavirus cases.
The move came after Boris Johnson said ministers would be ‘absolutely ruthless’ in deciding on whether to impose the self-isolation requirement.
Also added to the quarantine list are Monaco, Malta, Turks & Caicos and Aruba.
Dr Hilary returned to Good Morning Britain today and revealed he narrowly avoided having to quarantine after holidaying in France.
‘I was back about 10 days ago. I don’t need to be incarcerated just yet!’ he joked.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.
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