Boris Johnson confirmed, on Monday February 21, the lifting of the last health restrictions still in force in England: from February 24, people who test positive will no longer even be obliged to go into quarantine – wearing a compulsory mask and passports vaccinations were abandoned in January – while self-tests, which until now were free and widely used by the population, will be payable on 1er April.
Baptized “living with Covid”, the British Prime Minister’s plan boils down to protecting the population with the only vaccine barrier and antiviral treatments: a fourth dose of vaccine should be offered to those over 75 and to the most vulnerable (immunocompromised) in spring.
“The pandemic is not over, but we have passed the peak of the Omicron wave. This variant was less severe, routine testing is much less important to avoid severe cases,” said the leader during an intervention in the House of Commons, welcoming that his country is now “one of the freest in the world”.
People who would be positive from February 24 are still invited – without obligation – to isolate themselves while exercising “their sense of responsibility”, Mr Johnson added, but the compensation introduced in 2020 to support the millions of workers unable to survive on statutory sickness benefits – or 96.35 pounds (115.82 euros) per week – will be scrapped.
Planned changes “appear very rushed”
This decision is “balanced”, concluded the Prime Minister, refusing to commit to publishing the scientific bases justifying it. Admittedly, the Omicron wave has been ebbing since mid-January: as of February 21, 38,409 people had tested positive over the past twenty-four hours and only fifteen deaths have been recorded. But the strategy of “living with the Covid”, by depriving ourselves of mass tests, the main tool for monitoring and limiting transmissions, has aroused significant criticism.
It worries the governments of the other nations of the United Kingdom. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland do not currently intend to follow England, having adopted a more cautious health policy since the start of the pandemic – but their ability to provide free self-tests depends on the budgets allocated by London. “Any decision to end the national testing program would be premature and reckless,” judged, on Twitter, Mark Drakeford, the Welsh Prime Minister.
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