Guidance

[Withdrawn] COVID-19: guidance for providers of accommodation for asylum seekers

Updated 24 August 2022

This guidance was withdrawn on 31 August 2022

This guidance is out of date. For information on COVID-19 testing, refer to the guidance COVID-19 testing in homelessness, domestic abuse refuge, respite room and asylum seeker accommodation settings. Guidance on living safely with respiratory infections, including COVID-19 is also available.

Applies to England

The Home Office has a statutory requirement, under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, to arrange accommodation for asylum seekers and their dependants who would otherwise be destitute.

This guidance is aimed at all staff involved in providing support to asylum seekers in all accommodation settings. This guidance is of a general nature and should be treated as a guide. In the event of any conflict between any applicable legislation (including the health and safety legislation) and this guidance, the applicable legislation shall prevail.

What has changed

There is no longer a legal requirement for people with coronavirus (COVID-19) infection to self-isolate. The public health advice for people with any of the main symptoms of COVID-19 or a positive test result, is to stay at home and avoid contact with other people.

Main messages

Accommodation providers should ensure that:

• all residents are aware, understand and are regularly reminded of routine measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 measures are in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to enable residents to follow these procedures
• measures are in place to encourage and facilitate COVID-19 vaccination of residents and staff
• plans are in place specific to each accommodation setting covering the standard processes for:
  • the prevention of and response to COVID-19 cases
  • management of individual cases and outbreaks in accommodation settings for asylum seekers

The government suggests that face coverings continue to be used in crowded, enclosed and poorly ventilated spaces.

These plans should apply to all accommodation settings including those for longer resident stays.

Staff working in accommodation settings for asylum seekers, such as initial accommodation centres (IACs) or contingency accommodation, should be aware of the specific health needs in this population. Staff should make health information available in languages that residents can understand.

Any NHS care received for COVID-19, including COVID-19 vaccinations, will be provided free of charge, irrespective of immigration status. No immigration checks or NHS number are needed to enable testing or treatment of an asylum seeker for COVID-19.

Accommodation providers should work closely with local public health teams, as well as other partners, to ensure these measures are in place. To facilitate joint working, the local Director of Public Health should be contacted and made aware of new accommodation settings being set up as soon as possible.

Measures to prevent the spread of COVID- 19

Accommodation providers should be aware of what measures they can put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These measures should be communicated to residents in a language that they understand.

These measures include:

• advising residents of the most important symptoms of COVID-19 and what to do if they have any of these
• supporting residents to stay in the accommodation setting and staff to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if they have COVID-19
• supporting residents and staff to use face coverings in crowded and enclosed spaces or areas
• advising residents to wash their hands with soap and water and/or use hand sanitiser regularly throughout the day
• asking residents to cover their nose and mouth when they cough and sneeze
• encouraging and facilitating residents and staff to receive their COVID-19 vaccination, including booster doses
• ensuring residents and staff have the opportunity to take regular rapid lateral flow device (LFD) tests which are currently still available free of charge
• ensuring ventilation of all spaces in accommodation settings
• advising staff and residents to avoid unnecessary crowding in indoor spaces, for example lifts, corridors, reception areas
• ensuring there is a plan in place, specific to each accommodation setting, that covers processes for the prevention of and response to COVID-19 cases and outbreak management
• ensuring there are effective COVID-19 prevention activities and mitigations in place, such as regular room cleaning, along with COVID-19 outbreak plans

Single rooms or rooms for families with en-suite bathroom facilities are the most suitable and lowest risk accommodation to minimise the risk of onward spread of COVID-19 infection. These rooms should be prioritised for new arrivals and known cases and their contacts who need to stay in the accommodation setting and avoid contact with others.

Staff should avoid working in more than one setting if there is a known COVID-19 case among residents or staff or an ongoing outbreak in one of their workplaces.

Staff should comply with workplace risk mitigations including workplace testing as advised.

Accommodation providers should ensure staff are appropriately trained to implement measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including supporting residents when a case or an outbreak occurs.

Face coverings

COVID-19 spreads through the air by droplets and aerosols that are exhaled from the nose and mouth of an infected person. Face coverings are mainly worn to protect others but can also protect the wearer. By covering the nose and mouth, they reduce the amount of virus released when people breathe, speak, cough or sneeze.

Face coverings reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, especially when there is close contact between people in enclosed, crowded or poorly ventilated spaces. Providers of accommodation settings are strongly recommended to support the use of face coverings in these circumstances.

It is important that face coverings fit securely around the face so as to safely cover the mouth and the nose. Multi-layered face coverings are recommended as they provide greater protection. Providers of accommodation settings should consider providing face coverings for all residents.

Testing

The main symptoms of COVID-19 are recent onset of a new continuous cough, a high temperature, or a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell. If a resident has any of these symptoms listed above, even if their symptoms are mild, they should follow the guidance for people with COVID-19 and their contacts and arrange to have a PCR test. They should not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital except in an emergency.

Around 1 in 3 people with COVID-19 do not have any symptoms. This means they could be spreading the virus without knowing it. Residents and staff may wish to take rapid lateral flow tests as a way to manage their personal risk and the risk to those around them.

Rapid LFD testing is currently still available free to residents and staff working in accommodation settings for asylum seekers. Find out more about how to get LFD tests.

Residents and staff should consider taking an LFD test if they will be spending time in crowded and enclosed spaces and before visiting people who are at higher risk of severe illness if they get COVID-19.

New arrivals

Asylum seekers who enter England from another country do not need to take any COVID-19 tests or quarantine on arrival in England, irrespective of vaccination status. There are currently no countries or territories on the red list.

Initial and contingency accommodation

These accommodation settings include:

• initial accommodation centres
• contingency accommodation such as hotels, hostels and former military accommodation

This may include people (who may or may not be related) living at the same address and who share cooking facilities, bathrooms or toilets, or living areas.

Accommodation providers should ensure residents in these settings have access to primary care, for example by registering with a GP surgery, to ensure they have regular opportunities to discuss any health needs.

People who live in the same household as someone with COVID-19 are at the highest risk of becoming infected because they are most likely to have prolonged close contact. People who stayed overnight in the household of someone with COVID-19 while they were infectious are also at high risk.

To use this guidance, providers of this accommodation will need to interpret the meaning of ‘household’ based on the set-up of their accommodation. This will depend on the layout of the accommodation and how it is organised.

In deciding what constitutes a household, the key factor is whether residents share living spaces, in particular: bathrooms, toilets, kitchens and sleeping space. Residents who share any of these should be considered as a household for the purposes of this guidance. In complex situations, providers of accommodation can seek advice from UKHSA’s local Health Protection Teams (HPTs).

Providers of this accommodation should make an assessment and draw up a plan for how to manage these settings and avoid spread of COVID-19 infection for:

• residents who have symptoms of COVID-19 and are waiting for a test result
• residents who have received a positive test result for COVID-19 (confirmed case)
• residents considered to be in the same household as someone with symptoms or who has had a positive test (household contacts)
• residents who have been identified as contacts of a confirmed case who they don’t live with. These are at lower risk of becoming infected. They should carefully follow guidance on coronavirus: how to stay safe and help prevent the spread

All people in the above categories should have their own self-contained accommodation (with their own bathroom and kitchen). If this is not possible, ‘cohorting’ based on COVID-19 status may be used to minimise health risks. Cohorting is a strategy which can be effective in limiting the spread of disease by gathering people into different areas depending on their status. For example, confirmed cases can be in one area of the accommodation and household contacts in another.

Residents with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 should not mix with, be cohorted with, or spend time in rooms next to residents who have an underlying health condition that puts them at higher risk of severe COVID-19. This includes not sharing bathrooms or communal areas.

Where the accommodation has a mix of residents with symptoms and/or confirmed cases and residents who are asymptomatic, providers should consider:

• whether residents can safely avoid contact with other people in their own room with an en-suite bathroom and have access to their own kitchen
• if residents cannot safely avoid contact with other people in the accommodation, what other local options are available to support them
• the physical layout of the setting to ensure that there is no contact between groups outlined above
• arranging staff teams so the same people are consistently working with the same staff group
• seeking advice from UKHSA’s local HPTs in complex situations

Suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19

Accommodation providers should ensure plans are in place for each setting that cover the standard processes for prevention and response to COVID-19 cases and outbreaks, including when to contact the local HPT and the local authority.

If someone has COVID-19 symptoms or has a positive COVID-19 test result

Anyone who develops COVID-19 symptoms, however mild, should get a PCR test even if they have received one or more doses of COVID-19 vaccine. They are advised to stay in the accommodation setting and avoid contact with other people while waiting for the test result.

Those who test positive should stay in the accommodation setting and avoid contact with other people. For further details on the duration, see the guidance for people with COVID-19 and their contacts.

If their symptoms do not get better after 10 days, or their condition gets worse, use the NHS 111 online coronavirus service, or call NHS 111 if internet access is not available. For a medical emergency call 999.

In both contingency and dispersal accommodation, it is the responsibility of residents with a positive PCR test result to provide details to staff. Accommodation providers should ensure the residents are aware of this responsibility and may need to provide support with this.

The guidance for people with COVID-19 and their contacts should be followed and used alongside this guidance even if the resident does need to go to hospital.

Accommodation providers should follow guidance for cleaning in non-healthcare settings, which includes guidance on dealing with laundry and waste.

If a resident is identified as a contact of someone with COVID-19 symptoms or of someone with a positive COVID-19 test result

Refer to the initial and contingency accommodation section for help in determining if a resident is a household or non-household contact.

Residents considered to be in the same ‘household’ as someone who has symptoms of, or has received a positive test for, COVID-19 are considered ‘household contacts’. They are advised to follow the guidance for people with COVID-19 and their contacts.

If a household contact develops COVID-19 symptoms, they should be supported to arrange a PCR test, stay in the accommodation setting, avoid contact with other people and follow the advice in the guidance for people with COVID-19 and their contacts, even if their symptoms are mild.

Accommodation providers should encourage residents to tell them if they need to stay in the accommodation setting.

For further information follow guidance on what to do if someone has COVID-19.

Household contacts of someone with COVID-19 should not be moved to new accommodation settings until 10 days after the person they share a household with symptoms started (or the day their test was taken if they did not have symptoms).

Dispersal accommodation

These accommodation settings include:

• family homes
• houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs)

These household settings are integrated into the community and it is important that residents understand the factors that can increase the risk of transmission. Residents should be provided with information to assist them in using their personal judgement to manage their own risk including measures they can take to reduce COVID-19 infection. Residents should be informed of and regularly reminded of these measures.

Accommodation providers should facilitate and encourage residents in these settings to register with a GP surgery to ensure they have regular opportunities to discuss any health needs.

Vaccination

The NHS is currently offering COVID-19 vaccines to all those who are eligible.

The COVID-19 vaccination is provided by the NHS free of charge, irrespective of immigration status and no data will be shared with immigration authorities when a vaccination offer is accepted.

There is no requirement for people to have an NHS number or to be registered with a GP to receive a COVID-19 vaccination from local teams.

Asylum seekers should be offered COVID-19 vaccines according to the Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation (JCVI) prioritisation advice.

Accommodation providers should work with local public health teams to support the development of solutions to deliver COVID-19 vaccinations for asylum seekers. This includes informing people about the vaccine and supporting them to feel confident in having it. They will also have a role in helping to identify the population and access appropriate sites to deliver vaccinations. There are leaflets and posters about the vaccination programme available.

Some vulnerable people may not respond as well to the COVID-19 vaccine as others and may remain at higher risk of serious illness if they catch the virus. For these individuals, extra care should be taken to help reduce their risk of infection.