Boris Johnson points to the sharp drop in the number of new infections, deaths and hospital admissions.
(Photo: AP)
London As part of his plan for ‘living with Covid’, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is lifting the latest state corona rules in England. Above all, this means that from February 24th, people will no longer have to isolate themselves after a positive corona test.
The government is relying on infected people to behave like people with a cold on their own responsibility, said Johnson. “Let’s learn to live with this virus and continue to protect ourselves and others without restricting our freedoms.”
Johnson’s Conservative Party enthusiastically received the announcement. Experts and the opposition, however, criticized the project as poorly thought out. The announcement was also overshadowed by Queen Elizabeth II’s (95) corona infection.
The Prime Minister referred to the sharp drop in the number of new infections, deaths and hospitalizations as justification. This is thanks to the successful vaccination campaign. The peak of the omicron wave is also over, said Johnson. He emphasized that the end of the Corona rules would relieve the economy.
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From April 1st there will also be no more free tests. The government spent around 15.7 billion pounds (18.8 billion euros) on this, said Johnson. This money can now be used for other projects. Rather, it is time to regain self-confidence.
Previously, Johnson had already lifted almost all corona rules, such as the mask requirement or distance rules. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland decide independently on their actions and often take a slightly more cautious approach than England, which does not have its own regional government.
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Tory hardliners have been calling for an end to the Corona rules for weeks. The opposition called the plans half-baked and accused Johnson of wanting to win internal party opponents back on his side with the announcement. “The Prime Minister is trying to declare victory before the war is over,” said Labor health politician Wes Streeting.
Johnson wanted to distract from the police investigation into the “Partygate” affair. The 57-year-old is also being asked to resign by politicians from his own ranks because of the scandal surrounding lockdown parties in Downing Street.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the pandemic is not over yet and that new virus variants cannot be ruled out. Therefore, older and particularly vulnerable people in particular should continue to be protected. Health Minister Sajid Javid announced another vaccination – a “spring booster” – for those over 75, residents of old people’s homes and those over 12 with immune deficiencies.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea”
Johnson’s plans also met with criticism from experts. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said the doctor Azeem Majeed from Imperial College London of the German Press Agency. “But if people stay sane and continue to isolate themselves when they have symptoms, the impact will be manageable for now.”
The public health expert is more worried about next autumn and winter, when not only will viruses have their high season, but also the immunity of many people will decrease due to vaccinations or previous infections and the infected will then “circulate freely”.
A group of scientists who also work for the Sage advisory body warned that the end of mandatory isolation and freely available rapid tests could lead to “a return to rapid epidemic growth”. The modelers said that infections could increase by 25 to 80 percent. According to the modeling calculated at the University of Warwick, measures such as isolation, testing and wearing masks as well as increased work from home help to reduce the risk of infection by 20 to 45 percent.
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