BORIS Johnson has announced all Covid restrictions will end in England in just days, as he urged Brits to get back to work almost two years since the first lockdown was introduced in the UK.
The Prime Minister announced that self-isolation rules will end shortly, with Covid testing also done at “much lower levels”.
Free lateral flow and PCR Covid tests are set to also finish shortly in a timetable the PM is due to set out in an announcement tomorrow.
However free tests are likely to still remain available for the more vulnerable including the elderly.
It comes as the estimated cost of Covid testing last month in the UK was £2 billion.
England’s ‘Freedom Day’ when all Covid restrictions will come to an end will happen on Thursday, the Daily Mail has reported.
The PM will lay out his “living with Covid” plan on Monday, where he is set to confirm the repeal of all of England’s pandemic regulations.
He is expected to say that the vaccination programme, testing, and other new treatments such as anti-viral drugs will keep people safe – while infectious people will no longer be made to stay at home.
Speaking to BBC One’s Sunday Morning Programme about free testing, Johnson said: “I want to make sure that we have capability to spot stuff and to snap back up as fast as we need to.”
He added: “We need resilience but we don’t need to keep, for instance on testing, we don’t need to keep spending at a rate of £2 billion a month, which is what we were doing in January.”
Asked how Covid will be spotted without testing, the PM said: “We will be testing at a much lower level.”
He added that cases were coming down, along with hospital patients being treated for Covid and ICU cases.
The PM was asked if he thought the British public would follow Covid rules again after accusations about lockdown-breaking parties at Downing Street.
“I’ll answer all that when the time comes on that point,” he said. “But on would people obey the rules, will people look after themselves and other people?
Covid latest:
- Her Majesty the Queen tests positive for Covid at the age of 95, but Palace officials say she will still carry out “light duties”
- The Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce a “bonfire of Covid rules” from tomorrow
- Travellers are likely to still face Covid restrictions, with passenger locator forms set to stay in place until the spring
- Boris Johnson to announce the end of self-isolation rules tomorrow as he urges Brits to “live with Covid”
“Look at the evidence, look at what the British people have done.”
He said that “everybody collectively helped to save lots and lots of lives,” adding that while it wasn’t time to “totally throw caution to the winds… we need people to be much more confident and get back to work”.
Covid cases are reportedly down 25% week-on-week, while the over-75s and most vulnerable are due to be offered a fourth jab within weeks.
In the most recent 24 hours, there were 34,377 positive tests, while deaths are down 23% on last week to 128.
But Labour has accused Johnson of trying to distract from Partygate, saying he is “declaring victory before the war is over”.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting compared the axing of free tests to “being 2-1 up with 10 mins left of play and subbing your best defender”.
The British Medical Association has also raised alarm that the end of Covid rules is “premature” and “not based on current evidence”.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the Council of the BMA, told BBC News: “I think the right time is when the first leap of faith is supported.
“You have at the moment more people dying, more people in the hospital, than you had before plan B was introduced.”
Yesterday, Johnson claimed Brits “need to learn to live with” Covid and added that the country has “built up strong protections” over the past two years.
Tomorrow, the PM is set to confirm that the legal duty introduced in 2020 requiring self-isolation for people who test positive will expire this week.
Powers to order national lockdowns will come to an end, with local authorities reported to be given the responsibility to manage regional outbreaks.
Around 85% of Brits have been double-vaccinated, with 38 million booster jabs given as well.
It comes after Wales dropped several Covid restrictions on Friday, including requiring a Covid pass to get into cinemas, nightclubs and theatres.
From the 28th, it will no longer be necessary to wear a face mask in some public places in Wales.
Meanwhile, the Scottish government has extended its Covid powers for a further six months, with deputy first minister John Swinney insisting it was “necessary to retain the availability of these baseline measures while we review our ongoing response to Covid”.
