Applies to England

You can use this service if you provide adult social care, such as a care home, retirement home, supported living or extra care.

Use this service to report:

• a new outbreak of an acute respiratory infection (ARI) - 2 or more people in your setting with symptom onset within 5 days of each other
• a single confirmed case of flu in your setting

ARIs include COVID-19, flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), or unknown respiratory infection including chest infections.

It should take about 10 minutes to complete.

Before you start

If possible, test all service users with symptoms who are eligible for COVID-19 treatments using a COVID-19 rapid lateral flow test. Staff with symptoms who are eligible for COVID-19 treatments should test themselves at home.

If you cannot test people, do not wait. Report as soon as possible.

You'll need to know the:

• setting postcode
• total number of service users and staff in your setting
• number of service users and staff with symptoms
• dates when people's symptoms started
• test results for anyone tested for any ARI, for example COVID-19, flu or RSV
• number of service users and staff vaccinated for COVID-19 and flu

Updating about an existing outbreak

Do not use this online service to give an update on an outbreak or cluster of ARI that you've already reported. If you need to give an update, contact your local UKHSA health protection team or your community infection control team.

Identifying an ARI outbreak

You only need to report 2 or more ARI cases if they could be linked by spread in your setting. If the infection could not have been spread in your setting, you should not report it as an outbreak. If in doubt, report as an outbreak.

Do not use this service to report:

• single cases of COVID-19
• any infection other than acute respiratory infections

Read more on:

• infection prevention and control in adult social care: acute respiratory infection
• identifying and treating respiratory infections on the NHS website

Why you should report an outbreak

Your local UKHSA health protection team, or the community infection control team, will use your information to assess your outbreak. They will help you manage the outbreak and prevent further spread.

Get help

If you need help using the service or have any other questions, contact your local UKHSA health protection team during working hours.

If your enquiry is urgent outside of working hours, telephone your health protection team's out-of-hours service.

If you need urgent medical advice

If you need urgent medical advice, you should call NHS 111 or visit 111.nhs.uk. For life-threatening emergencies, call 999.