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 As Hong Kong builds isolation units and Europe retains social
distancing and vaccine rules, Johnson will announce the repeal in
England of any pandemic requirements that impinge on personal
freedoms, such as self-isolating when positive.
Just a day after Queen Elizabeth tested positive for the virus,
Johnson is also expected to scrap free COVID-19 tests due to the
cost, despite warnings from medics and scientists that it will leave
the country vulnerable to a new variant.
"Today will 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," he said before making a statement in parliament.
It is not yet clear if the new rules will apply to England or all of
the UK, but the first minister of Wales made clear on Monday he did
not agree with the direction, describing any change to testing as
"premature and reckless".
"Testing has played a pivotal role in breaking chains of
transmission and as a surveillance tool helping us detect and
respond to emerging variants," Mark Drakeford said. "It's essential
that this continues."
The devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
have set their own COVID-19 restrictions.
The government said it would retain some surveillance systems and
plans for contingency measures if a new variant appears, after
British scientists detected earlier variants.
Under the plans, which have been in the works for weeks, Britain
will become the first major European country to allow people who
know they are infected with COVID-19 to freely use shops, public
transport and go to work.
In a sign of possible disagreement over the steps, a government
source said a meeting of Johnson's top ministers had been delayed.
Local media said the health and finance ministers had clashed over
the funding of some measures, but the source said the meeting would
go ahead later in the day.
Removing legal requirements to self-isolate and replacing them with
voluntary guidance would bring COVID-19 protocols into line with how
Britain treats most other infections.
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 Britain's toll of more than 160,000 fatalities
within 28 days of infection is the
second-highest in Europe after Russia's, and the
country's most comprehensive COVID study says 1
in 20 people had the virus in England in its
latest data.
Johnson has said he does not want people to
"throw caution to the wind" but the vaccine
rollout means the government wants to move from
state mandation to encouraging personal
responsibility. Among adults, 81% have been
boosted in England.
Medical leaders have urged Johnson not to be
"gung-ho" with the nation's health, and government advisers have
said dropping restrictions could lead to rapid epidemic growth.
Scientists say it is unclear how quickly human behaviour will change
however, after the vast majority continued to avoid busy areas and
wear masks even after previous rules were eased.
Putting the onus on employers to set isolation rules and requiring
people to pay for tests could also hit the poorest hardest because
they are often in jobs that involve the most interaction with
colleagues or customers.
So far the government has sought to keep the economy open by
combining mass rapid testing with a legal requirement for five days
of self-isolation, an approach that enabled the country to navigate
the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
($1 = 0.7358 pounds)
(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Barbara
Lewis and Catherine Evans)
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