Iain Duncan Smith 'completely in favour' of ending Covid rules
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Downing Street has confirmed that the free covid tests will carry on even after February 24, when the self-isolation rules are set to be axed. They have also said that people will not yet have to pay for the rapid covid tests, in order to give people the confidence to go out and see friends and family. However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to unveil a timescale for phasing out free testing.
The Mirror reports that this announcement could be addressed in a “living with Covid” document, to be unveiled by Mr Johnson on February 21.
The Government has previously warned that free tests will be ended at some point in the future, and leaked documents last month suggested the switchover could happen in June.
Papers seen by Reuters claim the timetable was due to be earlier in 2022 – but was pushed back to the summer due to the Omicron variant.
According to the document, shared between health agencies to prepare scenarios, officials are working on the basis that an online ordering system should be ready for Brits to order paid-for tests from the end of June.
However, an official warned that this could be pushed further back n if the virus throws another “curve ball” into the works.
The government has declined to say what the tests cost, with one source suggesting it is £30 for a seven-pack.
Mandatory self-isolation was already scrapped last year for close contacts of Covid cases.
However, people who test positive for the virus must still go into self-isolation for five full days in England, a period that has been repeatedly cut from 10 days and seven days.
Unions blasted the decision, saying it would leave low-income workers and schools high and dry – while Covid bereaved families blasted the PM when 314 people died in the last 24 hours.
UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Everybody wants to get back to normal, but Covid risks haven’t disappeared. This is going too far, way too soon.
“Infections are still rife in schools. Large numbers of pupils and staff are off. Allowing a premature return could lead to a further jump in infections and disrupt learning for thousands more.”
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “It’s also vital that ministers fix our broken sick pay system once and for all. Workers who are laid low by Covid must be able to make ends meet – not pushed into financial hardship.
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“It beggars belief that millions still don’t have access to decent sick pay.”
Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London and a member of New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, said he would be “very reluctant” to say that the pandemic was in any way over.”
Lobby Akinnola, spokesperson for Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, said: “The Prime Minister might wish that this disease was no more dangerous than the flu, but the reality is that he is throwing the most vulnerable in our society to the wolves.”
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