Covid-19 Update - 23/02

On Monday the Government announced how and when the remaining Covid restrictions in England will be lifted. Whilst the Government has removed the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test, adults and children who test positive will continue to be advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for at least 5 full days and then continue to follow the guidance until they have received 2 negative test results on consecutive days.

Following this announcement, we will continue to follow this guidance. That means there will be little change to our current policies and processes at this stage. Specifically, we will continue to maintain the requirement for customer-facing colleagues to wear face coverings when not working behind a screen. This is in line with Government guidance and is to ensure that we continue to proceed out of the pandemic in a controlled way. An additional change to the law and guidance means that unvaccinated colleagues who come into close contact with a person that has tested positive can now attend work but must follow the testing regime.

The concern remains amongst medical experts that relaxations of the legal requirements to isolate could lead to an increase in the rate of infection and we are proceeding cautiously by continuing to follow the advice that individuals can still reduce the risk of catching and passing on COVID-19 by wearing a face-covering in crowded and enclosed spaces, especially where you come into contact with people you do not usually meet, when rates of transmission are high. There will be some further changes to our processes for childcare nurseries in line with this guidance and we will ensure colleagues across our operations are given clarification on when masks can be removed whilst working behind screens.  

We will continue to monitor the rates of transmission in the lead up to 1 April by which point we anticipate the advice to have changed further and will update our policies and processes accordingly.

Whilst we appreciate there may be mixed emotions about the changing of the law, it is essential that we continue to ensure that all of us as colleagues, members and customers feel as safe as possible in our workplaces and continue to follow the government guidance.

More information including the Society’s FAQ’s, which will be updated on Friday to reflect this announcement, on Covid-19 can be found here.

If you have any additional questions which are not captured on this page should direct these to your line manager in the first instance, but colleagues can also contact the HR Advice Line on 01926 516469 for further support.