By Q Radio News
People arriving into Northern Ireland from the Canary Islands will have to self isolate from today.
The removal of the travel corridor from the holiday destination took effect from 4am this morning.
However, travellers will only have to quaratine for 10 days rather than 14.
A joint statement has been released by the Chief Medical Officers from across the UK about the changes.
In it, Dr Michael McBride of Northern Ireland, Professor Chris Witty of England, Dr Gregor Smith of Scotland and Dr Frank Atherton of Wales said:
“Self-isolation is essential to reducing the spread of COVID as it breaks the chains of transmission.
“After reviewing the evidence, we are now confident that we can reduce the number of days that contacts self-isolate from 14 days to 10 days.
Dr Michael McBride
"People who return from countries which are not on the travel corridor list should also self-isolate for 10 days instead of 14 days.
“People who test positive should continue to self-isolate for 10 days from onset of symptoms or 10 days from point of taking a positive test if asymptomatic. We urge everyone to self-isolate when appropriate, it will save lives.”
The Northern Ireland Covid-19 Apps -StopCOVID NI app and COVIDCare NI - will be updated to reflect the changes from Monday 14th December."
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