Government outlines plan for living with Covid

All remaining domestic covid regulations restricting public freedoms are to end this week as part of the government’s Living with Covid Plan.

Alongside the ending of all Covid restrictions, Prime Minister Boris Johnson also detailed how free mass testing will stop from 1 April, whereby the provision of free testing would be targeted to the most vulnerable.

The ending of restrictions means that the legal duty to isolate for those who tested positive will no longer be in place. However, the government’s medical advisers, including chief medical officer Prof Sir Chris Whitty, said that the public health advice for people with Covid would still be to self-isolate to prevent others catching it, as it would be for many other highly infectious diseases.

The move away from restrictions also means that the £500 self-isolation support payment for people on low incomes who test positive for Covid will no longer be available and routine contact tracing will end, so fully-vaccinated close contacts and those under 18 will no longer be legally required to test daily for seven days.

With vaccines still prioritised as the first line of defence, the NHS will offer an additional booster to all adults aged over 75, all residents in care homes for older adults, and all over 12s who are immunosuppressed.

An autumn annual booster programme is under consideration, subject to further advice.