The Prime Minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, said on Monday that he would end all COVID-19 remaining restrictions in England including obligatory self-isolation for individuals with COVID-19 and free testing.
As per the sources, PM has also revealed that the remaining Coronavirus restrictions will be scrapped on Thursday, and the free COVID-19 testing will end in April. In addition, he said the provision of free testing would be targeted to the most vulnerable from April 1.
PM’s “living with COVID-19” plan has prompted concerns that it is premature and may expose the nation to new viral strains, but the government claims it has provided more testing than most other countries and now needs to save costs.
Furthermore, he said that the provision for free tests could not continue at their current rate due to the cost of £2bn a month.
The amendments will be subject to Parliament’s approval.
However, the government has also made changes to its existing rules. Individuals can now only order a box every three days rather than every 24 hours in an effort to prevent people from stockpiling free lateral flow tests before the April 1 deadline.
As per the figures, the proportion of people fully vaccinated in the United Kingdom is about 72.7%, accounting for 4.89Cr people. Until now, around 13.9Cr doses have been given in the entire UK.
Since the pandemic, the UK has recorded a total of 18,654,572 cases of Coronavirus with 16,817,120 recoveries and 160,610 deaths.
From Thursday onwards :
- Individuals who tested positive for Coronavirus will no longer be legally required to self-isolate.
- But they will be suggested to remain at home and avoid contact with other people for at least 5 days.
- Contact tracing will end, so fully-vaccinated close contacts and those below the age of 18 years will no longer be legally required to test daily for seven consecutive days.
- The £500 self-isolation support payment for people on low incomes who test positive for Coronavirus will no longer exist.
- COVID-19 provisions for expanded statutory sick pay will apply for a further month.
From April 1 onwards :
- Free mass symptomatic and asymptomatic testing for the general public will be ended, and the provision of free testing will be targeted to the most vulnerable people.
- People with Coronavirus symptoms will be asked to take personal responsibility when deciding whether to stay at home – until then, and they are still advised to do so.
- The existing government guidance on Covid passports will end, and it will no longer recommend venues use the NHS Covid pass.
