Boris Johnson is expected to announce how England will “live with COVID” today as he considers dropping all remaining restrictions, Downing Street said.
The prime minister will make a statement in the Commons at 4.30pm after meeting with his cabinet to discuss the new plan.
He will then hold a news conference to reveal details to the public at 7pm.
The PM’s statement can be followed live here
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4:43
How will we live with COVID?
On Saturday, Downing Street had confirmed that positive cases and their close contacts will no longer have to self-isolate by the end of this week.
Mr Johnson said: “Today will mark a moment of pride after one of the most difficult periods in our country’s history as we begin to learn to live with COVID.
“It would not be possible without the efforts of so many – the NHS who delivered the life-saving vaccine rollout at phenomenal speed, our world-leading scientists and experts, and the general public for their commitment to protecting themselves and their loved ones.
“The pandemic is not over but thanks to the incredible vaccine rollout we are now one step closer towards a return to normality and finally giving people back their freedoms while continuing to protect ourselves and others.”
Remaining COVID restrictions
- Fully vaccinated people with COVID-19 who test negative with a lateral flow two days in a row can leave isolation after five days – but must remain for 10 days if still testing positive
- Unvaccinated people who develop COVID symptoms or test positive must self-isolate for 10 days
- All arrivals into the UK must complete a passenger locator form
- Non-fully vaccinated people must take a pre-departure test and a PCR test on or before day two and quarantine if it is positive
- Face coverings are required in health and care settings
- Face coverings are required on Transport for London services
- Local authorities can recommend face coverings in communal areas of schools
Country in ‘strong position but must remain cautious’
No 10 said Mr Johnson is committed to setting out how the country will live with COVID as the UK is now in a “strong position” to consider lifting remaining restrictions following a successful vaccination programme.
He wants to move away from “government intervention towards personal responsibility”.
The government is planning a “vaccine-led” approach and said living with the virus will depend on the “sustained population immunity provided by vaccines”.
But, the PM warned the pandemic is “not over” and the government’s scientific advisers on its SAGE committee have emphasised there is “considerable uncertainty about the path the pandemic will now take in the UK”.
Free lateral flow tests to remain?
The government has promised to take a “cautious approach” by retaining some surveillance systems and plans to reimpose measures “if needed to respond to new variants”.
No 10 praised the public’s adherence to Plan B restrictions and said wider behaviour change has slowed the growth of the virus, adding that more than 81% of adults have now had booster jabs.
The government has not said if the changes will mean people could go to work after testing positive, but the PM’s official spokesman previously said “there would be guidance, that would not be what we are recommending”.
It has also not confirmed if the provision of free lateral flow tests could end following reports people would have to pay for them.
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‘Important we don’t live under diktat’
Business minister Paul Scully told Sky News’ Kay Burley it was “important we don’t work and live under government diktat for a moment longer than is necessary to allow the economy to recover, to allow people to get back to a sense of normality while keeping people safe”.
Asked about the possible dropping of self-isolation rules, Mr Scully said there was a need for “really good guidance” for employers on when their employees should and should not attend work.
“There comes a time when the pandemic moves to a more endemic approach to COVID, in the same way flu and other viruses are treated,” he added.
“That’s what we’ve got to get back to, but it’s a fine balance clearly.”
On Sunday morning, Mr Johnson told the BBC testing would happen “at a much lower level” because it is unsustainable to continue spending £2bn a month on the scheme.
Ending self-isolation a ‘premature decision’
The plan to scrap self-isolation has been criticised by some, including by three-quarters of NHS leaders in England who disagree, according to a survey by the NHS Confederation.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of NHS Confederation that represents NHS trusts, told Sky News it was “too early” to be ending mandatory testing and said there was no plan for what to do without the programme.
Read more:
Ending COVID restrictions requires big psychological leap
PM has to convince the cabinet he’s right
Doctor with long COVID attacks PM’s proposals
He said if isolation is no longer mandatory then what is the advice for NHS and care staff, and added that he did not understand why all the restrictions had to be lifted at the same time.
Dr David Nabarro, the World Health Organisation’s special envoy on COVID-19, did not support the move either.
“I appreciate their concerns about absenteeism… but at the same time, what we know about this virus is that it is not good for people and simply just treating it as though it is a harmless virus we think – that’s myself and colleagues in the World Health Organisation – we think that’s unwise,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the British Medical Association, said the decision is “premature” and “not based on current evidence”.
“It clearly hasn’t been guided by data or done in consultation with the healthcare profession,” he said.
Professor Robert West, a health psychologist from University College London and a member of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (SPI-B), which feeds into SAGE, suggested the government had moved to “abdicate its own responsibility for looking after its population”.
“It looks as though what the government has said is that it accepts that the country is going to have to live with somewhere between 20,000 and 80,000 COVID deaths a year and isn’t really going to do anything about it,” he told Times Radio, speaking in a personal capacity.
“Now that seems to me to be irresponsible.”
Mark Woolhouse, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology from the University of Edinburgh, told Sky News that, while legal restrictions might end, not changing public health advice was “absolutely critical”.
“Throughout this pandemic I would argue the public has been ahead of the government in things like taking sensible precautions, for example not going to parties during lockdown,” he said.
“I think the government has been behind the public in that respect many times.
“So it depends much less on the removing of the legal requirements and much more on how people actually choose to behave.
“What’s critical then is, first of all, the public health advice that goes with this change in the legal requirements, but also the enabling – whether people are still given access to tests, which I think is very important, and whether people are also supported to self-isolate if they now choose to, even if they’re not legally required to.
“I think that’s critical.”
Education unions warn of chaos in schools
Education unions warned of chaos in schools if all remaining COVID rules are scrapped.
Unison, Unite and the GMB are urging the prime minister to keep in place free testing and the requirement to self-isolate.
The three unions warned that a failure to provide clear, detailed guidance risks a “super spreader free-for-all” in schools and other workplaces.
Labour shadow minister Stephen Doughty told Sky News: “This is the wrong time to scrap free tests and it’s the wrong time to be rolling back on the restrictions on isolation.
“The government is trying to get headlines this morning but we need to see the science.
“There’s a lot of people up and down the country who rely on free tests to make sue they can go to work, that they’re not taking a risk of infecting loved ones – particularly those who have immunocompromised conditions and so on.
“I think the government are being driven by the headlines rather than what’s the best advice here.”
The “living with COVID” approach will only apply to England so far, however the UK’s three devolved nations have generally followed suit throughout the pandemic, if reluctantly.
The SNP’s Ian Blackford said the Scottish government would be more cautious as he reiterated the importance of self-isolation rules and free tests – and accused Mr Johnson of removing restrictions “to save his own political skin”.
https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-boris-johnson-to-announce-living-with-covid-plan-as-he-considers-dropping-all-restrictions-in-england-12547338
