UK: With the end of anti-Covid restrictions, it’s time to “regain confidence” for Bojo


The Prime Minister announced the end of health restrictions and free tests, in particular to learn how to live with the virus. A decision deemed “premature” in a country which has experienced the highest number of deaths linked to Covid-19 in Europe.

Learning to live with the Covid. After two years of pandemic, England is taking the plunge. This Monday, the British government presented a plan to definitively say bye to all health restrictions. “Today is not the day we declare victory against the Covid, because the virus is still there, but it is a day when after all the efforts of the last two years we are finally able to protect ourselves and restore our freedoms, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a press conference. It is a proud moment for our nation and a source of hope.”

This attempt to cohabit with the virus is a world first. The announcement comes as more than 11,000 patients remain in hospital, including 331 in intensive care, in the country on Sunday. The same day the British learned that Queen Elizabeth II had tested positive. The United Kingdom, with 183,000 people having succumbed to Covid, still holds the terrible record in terms of deaths in Europe. These figures do not seem to worry Boris Johnson too much. The vaccination campaign has “his proofs”, “the level of immunity is now sufficient” and it’s time to “regain confidence”assured the Conservative leader to Parliament on Monday afternoon.

Vaccines and antiviral treatments

On Thursday, the last health restrictions in place in England, like compulsory isolation after a positive test or being reported a contact case, will end. April 1 will mark the end of free antigen and PCR tests, except for the oldest and most vulnerable. The strategy of this “return to normality” will rely entirely on vaccines and new antiviral treatments, continued the leader of parliament. In the UK, almost all of those aged 12 and over have received a first dose, three-quarters are doubly vaccinated and two-thirds have already had their booster dose, according to official figures. “We have reached a stage where we believe we can find a balance without state intervention. […] and more in favor of personal responsibility,” had already rolled out Boris Johnson on Sunday. While promising that the government would reimpose measures “if necessary”.

But the establishment divides even within the government. Monday morning, during a first meeting – aborted after a few minutes due to disagreements – discussions were tense between the Minister of Health, Sajid Javid, and the Minister of Economy, Rishi Sunak. While the first was for the continuation of free tests in certain sectors, which would mean paying several billion pounds, the second replied that the amount requested was untenable. The financial argument is the reason why the government wants to end it. “The program cost 15.7 billion between 2020 and 2021, and two billion pounds [2,4 milliards d’euros] in the month of January, repeated the Prime Minister on Monday.

“Save your skin”

“The Prime Minister has promised to present a plan to learn to live with Covid, but all we have today is more chaos and disarray”, attacked in the wake of the presentation, Keir Starmer, leader of the Labor Party, adding that the end of free testing was “a mistake”. By removing the restrictions, the Tory leader, in a very bad position since the revelations of illegal parties at 10 Downing Street, seeks only “to save his skin”, meanwhile, accused Scottish National Party MP Ian Blackford. Lifting the measures has been a demand of the Tory libertarian wing for months.

If this “freedom day” was eagerly awaited by the world of business, tourism and the arts, the other British provinces and the scientific community for their part denounce a “premature decision”. Ending free testing would be “catastrophic” and would prevent anticipating the arrival of new waves, for example, warned the head of the Scottish executive, Nicola Sturgeon, Monday morning. Finally, in an open letter addressed to the doctors advising the government, signed by more than 2,500 people, around thirty scientific and hospital representatives shared their “concern about the end of tests, surveillance surveys and the isolation of positive people. We do not believe that this policy has a solid scientific basis”, they warn. Fearing that on the contrary, it risks “accelerate the circulation of the virus”.



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