Boris Johnson is set to make an announcement on the end of coronavirus restrictions in England today with his “Living with COVID” plan.
Johnson will make a statement to parliament at around 3.30 p.m, before addressing the nation in a press conference this evening.
It is expected that the law requiring people with COVID to isolate will be ditched a month earlier than previously planned, meaning people who test positive should be free to do as they wish from the end of this week.
There will be guidance on general behavior — including telling people that they should stay at home if they have COVID — but none of it will be legally binding.
“We are moving from government diktats and legal restrictions to people being able to make personal judgments,” a government official said.
The general public’s access to free COVID tests will come to an end in the coming weeks
People in high risk settings such as health care, as well as the most vulnerable and elderly people will still have access free testing indefinitely.
A statement from Downing Street last night D said:
“The pandemic is not over, and as set out by SAGE, there is considerable uncertainty about the path the pandemic will now take in the U.K. That’s why we will continue to take a cautious approach as we learn to live with COVID, retaining some surveillance systems and plans for contingency measures which can be stood up if needed to respond to new variants.”
Johnson is expected to say that today “mark a moment of pride after one of the most difficult periods in our country’s history as we begin to learn to live with COVID.”
