End of COVID curbs in UK worry scientists

After Prime Minister Boris Johnson withdrew the requirement for people in England to self-isolate if they get COVID-19, scientists advised the British government on Monday not to stifle the country’s ability to monitor and track the virus.

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Johnson will lay out the government’s plan for “living with COVID” in Parliament on Monday, treating it like other transmissible illnesses like the flu. Guidance is likely to replace the legal obligation to self-isolate for at least five days after a positive coronavirus test, and bulk testing for the virus will be reduced.

The new strategy calls for vaccines and treatments to keep the virus from becoming endemic in the country. Those aged 75 and above, as well as those aged 12 and up who have disorders that make them prone to serious disease, will be provided a fourth vaccine shot.

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Johnson urged individuals not to “throw caution to the wind,” but instead to “move away from banning certain courses of action, compelling certain courses of action, in favour of encouraging personal responsibility.”

However, some scientists believe it is a hazardous step that could result in an increase in illnesses and undermine the country’s defences against future strains that are more virulent.

“The decision about when and how to reduce restrictions is enormously difficult,” said Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, which produced the AstraZeneca vaccine.

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He said it was critical to maintain “surveillance for the virus, an early warning system if you like, which tells us about new variants emerging and gives an ability to monitor whether those new variants are indeed causing more severe disease than omicron did.”

Most virus restrictions were repealed in January by Johnson’s Conservative government, which scrapped vaccine passports for venues and ended mask mandates in most settings in England except hospitals.

Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, all of which have their own public health standards, have also opened up, albeit at a slower pace.

Only England, which is home to 56 million of the United Kingdom’s 67 million inhabitants, is affected by Monday’s declaration.

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Because of the high immunisation rates in the United Kingdom and the milder omicron strain, loosening restrictions did not result in an increase in hospitalizations and deaths. Both are decreasing, while the United Kingdom still has Europe’s greatest coronavirus toll, second only to Russia, with over 160,000 deaths.

In the United Kingdom, 85% of people aged 12 and over have had two vaccine doses, with nearly two-thirds receiving a third booster shot.

Many Conservative Party lawmakers will be pleased with the move, as they think that the limitations were ineffective and disproportionate. It might also strengthen Johnson’s position among Republican lawmakers, who have been considering a bid to unseat him amid scandals involving the pandemic’s lockdown-breaching government parties.

A member of a government advisory council, health psychologist Robert West, predicted that the Conservative administration will “abdicate its own responsibility for looking after its population.”

“It looks as though what the government has said is that it accepts that the country is going to have to live with somewhere between 20,000 and 80,000 COVID deaths a year and isn’t really going to do anything about it,” he said, speaking in a personal capacity. “Now that seems to me to be irresponsible.”

The revelation that Queen Elizabeth II had tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday served as a warning that the virus is still spreading. The 95-year-old queen is suffering from minor cold-like symptoms, according to Buckingham Palace, but is continuing with minimal tasks and will adhere to all government laws.