Doctors who catch Covid should return to work after two weeks, even if they test positive

Of these, 44% are absent due to Covid isolation, an increase of four percentage points from the previous week.

Dr Bindra said: “Orientation is not static. We update to reflect changes in the epidemiology, evidence, policies and needs of the public as well as the health and care system. And that’s what the system asked for today.

Before Christmas, the The government changed the self-isolation rules allowing people to come out of isolation after seven days, instead of 10, provided they test negative on a lateral flow.

However, some people have reported testing positive on the devices for two weeks or more, even though they are feeling perfectly fine.

The accuracy of lateral flow testing has resumed in importance since the government said people should not require a confirmatory PCR test after testing positive for LFT.

The policy change was announced to free up capacity in the PCR labs.

The government said it was a temporary measure as Covid rates remain high across the UK.

Daily cases of Covid in Britain fell almost 20% last week, with hospital admissions also starting to decline.

However, there were warnings last night that the North East and North West of England are seeing rates regarding the omicron variant.

Figures showed that three of the five UK regions with the largest weekly increases in Covid case rates were Middlesbrough, Copeland and Redcar and Cleveland.