England to Pilot Cutting Self-Isolation Time With Rapid COVID-19 Test

A student performs a university-provided CCP virus lateral flow test on himself in his college room in Oxford, England, on Dec.12, 2020. Laurel Chor/Getty Images

From May 9, some contacts of positive COVID-19 cases in England may take rapid tests instead of self-isolating for 10 days as part of an England-wide study, the government said on Sunday.

The government hopes that the study, led by Public Health England and the National Health Services’ (NHS) Test and Trace programme, can provide evidence to help cut self-isolation time and speed up England’s reopening.