British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed on Monday his plan to advance the end of the covid-19 restrictions in England by a month, a territory that this Thursday will become a testing laboratory on how to live with the virus.
Health policy for the rest of the UK is decided by the governments of each nation.
In England, after almost two years of pandemic, for the first time it will not be mandatory to isolate after testing positive, although the prime minister has stressed the need to "show consideration", so staying home after a contagion will become the recommendation At least until April 1, when it will become a personal decision.
That day, in addition, the large-scale free tests will end,
The United Kingdom detected the first case of coronavirus on January 31, 2020. 18.5 million diagnoses later, the Government believes that there is now “sufficient level of immunity to rely on vaccines and treatments as a first line of defence” , so on Thursday, along with the end of the mandatory quarantine, the program to track the contacts of infected people and the financial compensation of 500 pounds (600 euros) for sick leave for lower-income workers also ends.
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Elizabeth II, 95, infected with coronavirus with mild symptoms
The bet is not without controversy, as was evident when Johnson advanced it 10 days ago and as this Monday the opposition has reminded him.
Health groups have classified the end of mandatory quarantine as premature and the scientific community, for the most part, agrees that it is a risk.
Union organizations have denounced the difficult dichotomy that workers will find themselves in, when they have to choose between going to their jobs with covid or losing income.
The order maintains the line of laxity adopted by the British prime minister during much of the crisis, but also contains a component of political calculation in which the more libertarian essences of the British conservatives are mixed with Johnson's need to please some
Tory
MPs
on whom their survival depends.
"Let's learn to live with this virus and continue to protect ourselves and others without restrictions on our freedoms," he declared Monday in Parliament, where he formalized his plan to replace "government restrictions with individual responsibility."
Last month, masks were no longer mandatory in indoor spaces, with few exceptions such as some public transport.
For Johnson, it has been the evolution of the virus itself that has tipped the balance: the death figures this winter have been in line with the usual ones at this time of year, despite the record infections registered;
case statistics are at their lowest level since the omicron variant was detected in November and the numbers that most concern Downing Street, hospitalizations, are below 10,000, putting the coronavirus on a par with other seasonal viruses.
For this reason, the Government has stopped perceiving covid-19 as an extraordinary threat, to consider it at the level of infections such as the flu, which demands a similar approach, based on the immunization of the most vulnerable and the use of antivirals.
Boris Johnson, this Monday in London. DPA via Europa Press (Europa Press)
Hence, one of the key decisions in the face of the imminent end of the restrictions has been to pick up the gauntlet of the advisory committee on vaccination and offer, starting in the spring, a fourth booster dose six months after the previous one for those over 75 years and those older than 12 years with reduced immunity.
The other great pillar is how to control the evolution of the virus, without the most effective tool so far: large-scale tests, which will come to an end on April 1, except for the elderly and the most vulnerable.
In a scenario in which the coronavirus is no longer considered lethal and the Executive wants to restructure priorities, the cost is excessive.
Boris Johnson said this Monday in Parliament that the test program has reached 15,700 million pounds (18,500 euros), an amount that added to that of the vaccination campaign, the largest undertaken in the history of the United Kingdom, exceeds the total budget of the Ministry of the Interior.
However, the prime minister has conceded that there is "considerable uncertainty" and has admitted that his own scientific advisers "are convinced that there will be new variants and it is possible that they will be worse than the omicron".
For this reason, to placate criticism for a potential anticipation, he guaranteed the maintenance of the device to "manage and respond" to these risks, including the infection studies carried out periodically by the National Statistics Office to identify potential contagion peaks.
With his intervention, the
premier
hopes to close a key chapter, not only in the battle against the virus, but in his own fight for survival, after weeks of controversy over parties in Downing Street in full confinement.
His appearance, however, has been preceded by confusion, an increasingly common phenomenon in Johnson's court, after the division between heavyweights in his government forced to delay the council of ministers in which he hoped to obtain the acclamation from his cabinet to the strategy designed to “live with the virus”.
The gap responds to differences in financing the test device and, although it has been resolved in favor of the Ministry of Finance, which refuses to provide the additional funds claimed by the Ministry of Health, it serves as a moral fable for other executives about the unavoidable risks of shut down the pandemic