Patients going into hospitals in England will have to self-isolate for two weeks before they arrive under new NHS rules. The guidance means anyone heading to a hospital for planned surgery will have to shut themselves away from their family or self-isolate as a household for 14 days.
Patients will also have to be tested for coronavirus 72 hours before they arrive at hospital to prove they do not have the disease.
All patients will be affected by the rules even if they don't have symptoms. Just one fifth of routine operations have taken place during the pandemic, with NHS bosses keen to get elective care back up and running.