Self-isolation guidance is to end this weekend for people in Scotland who have Covid-19 or symptoms of the virus.

From Sunday, public health advice will change to a “stay at home” message for people who feel unwell or have a fever.

They will no longer be advised to take a PCR test and all contact tracing will end.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said Scotland was in a “different phase of the pandemic” and was now “focused on reducing severe harm of the virus”.

Scotland’s list of official Covid-19 symptoms will also be expanded from Sunday, bringing it closer in line with guidance in the rest of the UK.

The original signs of a Covid infection that were recognised in the UK were:

• fever
• new continuous cough
• loss of sense of smell or taste

Additions to the list in Scotland include shortness of breath; unexplained tiredness, lack of energy, muscle aches or pains, unusual hunger, headaches, sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, and diarrhoea, feeling sick or being sick.

The current guidance for people who test positive for Covid-19 is that they self-isolate for 10 days, or seven days if they have no temperature and have recorded two negative lateral flow tests from day six of isolation. Self-isolation rules in England, which were a legal requirement, ended in February.

PCR tests for the public will end on 30 April and test sites around the country will be closed. Free lateral flow tests for the general population have already stopped.

The Protect Scotland app will also be closed down shortly, but users will be advised to keep the app on their phones in case it is needed again at a future date.

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