Social care isolation rules have been relaxed following concerns over staff being off sick and problems discharging patients from hospitals. Previously, if a care home had at least two coronavirus cases, outbreak control measures—such as blocking new admissions and indoor visitors except those with essential caregiver status—were put in place for 28 days. The government has announced this has been shortened to 14 days in a move to allow more family members to visit loved ones and help NHS services safely discharge patients. It comes after services had experienced staff isolating or off sick with COVID-19, an increasing number of outbreaks, problems with accessing tests, and delayed results. The Department of Health and Social Care said the change will be kept under review. A spokesperson said: “Throughout the pandemic we have done everything we can to protect those receiving care with the measures in place based on the latest scientific …