Care home residents will be able to have five named visitors and self-isolation will no longer be required following visits to GPs, dentists and day centres from 17 May.
As part of step three of the roadmap, the number of named family members or friends able to visit their loved ones in care homes will be increased from two, as the visiting restrictions continue to ease.
A maximum of two visitors will be allowed at any one time or on any given day. These daily limits do not apply for very young children or essential care givers.
This follows a reduction in Covid-19 cases and the ongoing successful vaccine rollout with 95 per cent of older care home residents receiving their first jab.
Residents will also be able to go to medical appointments, a workplace, educational setting and day centres without having to self-isolate on their return.
The period when a Covid outbreak in a care home can be declared over will also change from 28 days to 14 days after the last positive case assuming there are no Variants of Concern (VOCs) identified.
That means visits can resume sooner following an outbreak, once the relevant testing has been completed and provided all staff and residents tested receive a negative result.
“The new guidance allows more family and friends to reunite and reduces the need to self-isolate, which I know many have found incredibly challenging,” said care minister Helen Whately.
“As we turn the tide on this cruel virus I want to make visiting as normal as possible by the summer, and this is an important step on that path,” she added.
