The British Prime Minister has chosen to further ease the restrictions against Covid-19, two years after the start of the pandemic.
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Ignoring criticism, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday, February 21, the end of mandatory isolation for positive coronavirus cases from Thursday in England. This is a key and controversial measure of its strategy for living with Covid-19 as with the “flu”.
Stuck in a scandal over parties organized in Downing Street during confinement, which threatens his political survival and is the subject of a police investigation, Boris Johnson has decided to speed up and lift the main measures still in place in England after two years of pandemic.
“We now have sufficient levels of immunity to move from protecting people through government interventions to (an approach based on) vaccines and treatments as the first line of defence”declared the head of the conservative government in front of the Parliament. “The restrictions have a significant cost to our economy, our society, our mental well-being and our children’s opportunities, and we must pay that price no longer.”he added.
It will however remain recommended, until April 1, to stay at home in the event of a positive test, the date on which free screening will be abolished except for the elderly or vulnerable because of its significant financial cost. “After that, we will encourage people with symptoms of Covid-19 to exercise personal responsibility, just as we encourage those who may have the flu to be careful of others.”insisted Boris Johnson.
At the same time as this relaxation, the government intends to continue its vaccination campaign, with the administration “in spring” of a new dose of an anti-Covid vaccine to people over 75 and to the most vulnerable.