Over 80% of people in Britain are not adhering to self-isolation guidelines when they have Covid-19 symptoms or had contact with someone who has tested positive, a study has found. A majority were also unable to identify the symptoms of Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. The research raises major questions about the effectiveness of England’s Test and Trace programme as Prime Minister Boris Johnson seeks to keep a lid on rising infection numbers with new restrictions.
The research, led by King’s College London, found that only 18.2% of people who reported having symptoms of Covid-19 in the last seven days had not left home since the symptoms developed, and only 11.9% requested a Covid-19 test. It also found that only 10.9% of people told by the NHS Test and Trace scheme to self-isolate after close contact with a Covid-19 case had done so…