Coronavirus: An introduction

Updated 18th October 2020. For the latest medical advice, visit NHS.uk/Coronavirus.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new illness that can affect your lungs and airways. The UK's response is based on clinical, scientific, and medical evidence. This section of the website sets out both the health advice and other efforts to help support businesses and our public services. 

The government has set out its plan to return life to as near normal as we can, as quickly and fairly as possible to safeguard livelihoods in a way that is safe and continues to protect the NHS. To achieve, this we all need to play our part. 

If you or anybody in your household has symptoms of coronavirus, you all need to self-isolate. 

If you are clinically vulnerable, you are at a higher risk of severe illness from coronavirus. You should continue shielding measures to keep yourself safe by staying at home and avoiding all contact with others, except for essential medical treatment or support. Click here to find out more. 

Wash hands, cover face, make space. 

The alert level in Bradford District Council is HIGH. That means: 

  • You cannot socialise indoors with others you do not live with, including close friends and family. Exemptions to this rule do apply if you are providing care or assistance to a vulnerable person. If you live alone and are in a support bubble, you can continue to visit your support bubble by staying overnight in each other's houses. 
  • Pubs and restaurants will be limited to table service only, and leisure and hospitality must close between 10pm and 5am. 
  • Restrictions are being introduced on non-essential visits to care homes.
  • In schools, pupils in Year 7 and above, and staff, must wear face coverings when in corridors and moving around communal areas. 

The government has also introduced new national restrictions to control the spread of the virus. These apply to Northumberland too:

  • Support bubble groups must be limited to a maximum of 15 people 
  • Indoor organised sport for over 18s will no longer be exempt from the rule of six. There is an exemption for indoor organised team sports for disabled people.
  • Weddings and civil partnership ceremonies and receptions will be restricted to a maximum of 15 people (down from 30). Other ‘life events’ will be subject to the ‘rule of six’ limits, except funerals (from 28 September).
  • Businesses will need to display the official NHS QR code posters so that customers can ‘check-in’ at different premises using this option as an alternative to providing their contact details once the app is rolled out nationally. 
  • Businesses and organisations will face stricter rules to make their premises COVID Secure (from 28 September).
  • A wider range of leisure and entertainment venues, services provided in community centres, and close contact services will be subject to the COVID-19 Secure requirements in law and fines of up to £10,000 for repeated breaches.
  • Employers must not knowingly require or encourage someone who is being required to self-isolate to come to work.
  • Businesses must remind people to wear face coverings where mandated.
  • Where an employer, in consultation with their employee, judges an employee can work effectively from home, they should do so. Extra consideration should be given to those people at higher risk.
  • Customers in private hire vehicles and taxis must wear face coverings (from 23 September).
  • Customers in hospitality venues must wear face coverings, except when seated at a table to eat or drink. Staff in hospitality and retail will now also be required to wear face coverings (from 24 September).
  • People who are already exempt from the existing face covering obligations, such as because of an underlying health condition, will continue to be exempt from these new obligations.
  • Guidance stating that face coverings and visors should be worn in close contact services will now become law. (from 24 September)
  • Staff working on public transport and taxi drivers will continue to be advised to wear face coverings.

About Coronavirus

The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are the recent onset of:

  • new continuous cough and/or
  • high temperature
  • anosmia (the loss or change in your normal sense of taste or smell)

For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.

Self Isolating

  • If you live alone and have symptoms of coronavirus, however, mild, you must stay at home for 10 days from when your symptoms first began. 
  • after 10 days, if you do not have a high temperature, you do not need to continue to self-isolate. If you still have a high temperature, keep self-isolating until your temperature returns to normal. You do not need to self-isolate if you just have a cough after 10 days, as a cough can last for several weeks after the infection has gone
  • if you live with others and you are the first in the household to have symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), then you must stay at home for 10 days, but all other household members who remain well must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill. 
  • for anyone else in the household who starts displaying symptoms, they need to stay at home for 10 days from when the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14 day isolation period. The ending isolation section below has more information, and see the explanatory diagram
  • staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community
  • if you can, move any vulnerable individuals (such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions) out of your home, to stay with friends or family for the duration of the home isolation period
  • if you cannot move vulnerable people out of your home, stay away from them as much as possible
  • reduce the spread of infection in your home: wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds, each time using soap and water, or use hand sanitiser; cover coughs and sneezes
  • if you have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms:
    • do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital
    • you do not need to contact 111 to tell them you’re staying at home
    • testing for coronavirus (COVID-19) is not needed if you’re staying at home
  • if you feel you cannot cope with your symptoms at home, or your condition gets worse, or your symptoms do not get better after 10 days, then use the NHS 111 online coronavirus (COVID-19) service. If you do not have internet access, call NHS 111. For a medical emergency dial 999
  • if you develop new coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms at any point after ending your first period of isolation (self or household) then you need to follow the same guidance on self-isolation again

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