Coronavirus staff guidance University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

International travel and COVID-19 variants

To help to protect our patients and avoid spread of new international COVID-19 variants in line with UK Government requirements, please ensure all patients are asked as part of their triage process if they have returned from abroad within the last 10 days.

If the answer is yes, they will need to be admitted to a side room until the end of their mandatory 10 day self-isolation period or until they are discharged.

Please advise the patient on how long they will need to self-isolate following discharge where appropriate.

Returning travellers should be tested in accordance with usual Trust guidance and further advice sought from an infection specialist for those testing COVID-19 positive, especially individuals returning from red list travel ban countries such as India which will be added to the list on Friday 20 April 2021.

• GOV.UK: COVID-19 red list travel ban countries

Further information on management of individuals returning from red list countries from PHE can be found on the GOV.UK website.

• GOV.UK: guidance for investigating and managing individuals with a possible or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern or variant under investigation

Currently, all patients who have returned from abroad within the 10 day window are required to isolate in a side room regardless of the reason for their presentation. Please note that this will be reviewed regularly in line with latest UK regulations.