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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Fionnula Hainey

Boris Johnson's strategy for 'living with Covid' - five things he could announce next week

Boris Johnson is expected to unveil his plan for 'living with Covid' next week.

It is understood the prime minister will be outlining a number of changes to coronavirus testing and surveillance.

He is expected to deliver his post-pandemic plan of action when Parliament returns from a short recess on Monday.

Mr Johnson has already stated that he wants to lift the legal requirement for those positive with Covid to self-isolate by the end of the month.

This week, James Heappey, the armed forces minister, said it was time to “reconsider” whether some pandemic measures should remain in place as he argued Brits need to “change behaviours” in the face of future coronavirus variants potentially being less threatening.

Here's what we know about some of the announcements that could be made on Monday.

Free tests to be axed

Mr Johnson is likely to announce an end to the provision of free lateral flow tests, according to widespread reports.

Packs of the do-at-home tests, which can provide results within as little as 15 minutes, are currently provided to all households by the NHS for free.

But people wanting to take a test before visiting vulnerable relatives or large events may be asked to pay for them in the future.

Asked on Thursday if the free Covid tests would be scrapped next week, health secretary Sajid Javid said “the protections we’ve enjoyed over the last few months” should be “reviewed”.

Another minister, Mr Heappey, asked whether the offer will be “taken away”, said: “I think that is the direction of travel but the PM will shortly announce his conclusions on that.”

Mr Johnson has been warned against the move by health professionals.

In a poll of more than 300 senior staff in England, the NHS Confederation found 79 per cent strongly disagreed or disagreed with the plan to stop free access to Covid-19 tests.

The government has previously said “universal free provision” of LFTs will come to an end at some stage, although it has said no decision has been taken on timings when responding to reports there could be an announcement on the ending of free testing next week.

Self-isolation requirement to be scrapped

The legal requirement to self-isolate when you test positive for is set to be lifted.

Currently, people who test positive must legally self-isolate for 10 days unless they have a negative lateral flow test on days five and six.

The current regulations will expire on March 24.

However, Mr Johnson has pledged to end them a month early as long as “encouraging trends” in the data continue.

The move is set to see Covid-19 treated in a similar way to other infectious diseases, such as flu, with people advised to stay at home if they are ill.

Downing Street has said the move “shows that the hard work of the British people is paying off” but scientists and campaigners raised fears about the impact the change could have on clinically vulnerable groups.

The NHS Confederation survey found that more than three-quarters would disagree with any axing of the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive Covid result in favour of it being advisory only.

Changes to passenger locator forms for international travel

Tests for travel have now been scrapped for fully-vaccinated people entering the UK.

But at the moment, people still need to fill in a passenger locator form, explaining where they have been and where they will be staying.

It is understood the online form could also be scrapped or modified to simplify travel restrictions even more.

Some health officials have raised concerns about scrapping the form altogether because of the need to continue tracking new variants coming into the UK.

Legal powers for councils to go

Ending the remaining Covid restrictions will also see councils lose the power to order closures of premises where the virus could be spreading.

Authorities have got the power under the soon-to-expire 2020 Coronavirus Act in England.

In reality, however, these powers were barely ever used because they already existed in a separate law passed in 1984.

Weekly ONS infection survey to end

The weekly ONS infection survey could come to an end as part of the government's plans for living with Covid.

The figures are based on nose and throat swabs taken from a representative sample of tens of thousands of people in private households.

The same people are sampled every week, regardless of whether they know they have Covid-19 or have reported a positive result.

In doing this, the ONS is able to produce estimates of the true number of cases of coronavirus across the country.

Recent analysis has shown that the gap between these figures and the UK’s official Covid-19 figures is getting wider.

It means an increasing number of people with Covid-19 are being missed from the official count, despite the recent decision to start including reinfections.

The growing difference between the two totals reflects the limitations of the government figures, which count only those people who have reported themselves as having tested positive for the virus.

The NHS Confederation poll of more than 300 health leaders in England found that 83 per cent did not want the weekly ONS infection survey to be dropped or scaled back.

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