Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Advice in your region:
England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland | Ireland
Stay at home to stop coronavirus spreading
Everyone must stay at home to help stop the spread of coronavirus.
You should only leave the house for very limited purposes:
- shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible
- one form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle – alone or with members of your household
- any medical need, including to donate blood, avoid or escape risk of injury or harm, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person
- travelling for work purposes, but only where you cannot work from home
Important - These reasons are exceptions – even when doing these activities, you should be minimising time spent outside of the home and ensuring you are 2 metres apart from anyone outside of your household.
There is separate advice about staying at home if:
Symptoms and what to do
Do not leave your home if you have either:
- a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
- a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
- loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
To protect others, do not go to places like a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. Stay at home.
Use the 111 online coronavirus service to find out what to do.
Only call 111 if you cannot get help online.
Important - Call 111 for advice if you're worried about a baby or child.
If they seem very unwell, are getting worse or you think there's something seriously wrong, call 999.
Do not delay getting help if you're worried. Trust your instincts.
Help the NHS respond to coronavirus
Use the quick NHS coronavirus status checker to tell us about your current experience of the virus.
This will help the NHS plan its response to coronavirus by showing where the virus is spreading and how it affects people.
Read general information such as:
