Johnson prepares to let the UK live with the virus

UK prime minister Boris Johnson has signalled to his backbenchers that he is prepared to let the UK live with the virus, the Guardian reported. 

All Covid restrictions in England could end in March as Johnson looking at ending mandatory self-isolation for positive Covid cases, the report added, quoting a senior official. It could be replaced by guidance.

According to the report, the legal requirement to self-isolate, carrying fines of up to £10,000 for non-compliance, is one of several pieces of Covid legislation due to expire in March.

Other provisions that will require renewal include giving your address to NHS test and trace and listing members of your household.

The Guardian report added that restrictions in England, including working from home guidance and Covid passports, are also set to be finalised and announced soon.

However, short term rules mandating mask-wearing in shops and on public transport might continue.

Some scientists warned against downgrading laws to reduce the spread of Covid, saying it could heap pressure on the NHS, but others said it was a logical next step.

It comes as Johnson faces the greatest pressure of his premiership over the Downing Street parties scandal.

The newspaper report further said that Johnson will convene a series of meetings this week to look at the trajectory of Covid data.

The prime minister's office is likely to lift the requirement for travellers to take a Covid test on returning from abroad, a key demand of the transport secretary Grant Shapps.

In its autumn/winter plan, the government said it would review the future of regulations relating to self-isolation by the end of March 2022 but that was published before Omicron hit.

“The widespread availability of lateral flow tests that enable self-isolation has undoubtedly been one of our strongest responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. We should therefore see this as an opportunity to enhance our public health response to other serious diseases rather than to downgrade our Covid response," Prof Azra Ghani, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London, told the Guardian.

“Such an approach would, in addition to saving lives, reduce the annual winter burden of respiratory illnesses on the NHS, freeing up space and resources to focus on other health needs.”

“In terms of the data, there are some encouraging signs that infections are falling across the country. Obviously we want to see that mirrored in the latest ONS data as well," Johnson’s spokesman was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

“There are also some signs of falls – or at least plateauing – in admissions and occupancy in hospital, which is good to see, but it still remains the case that our NHS is under significant pressure – there are over 16,000 Covid patients in hospital in England alone.”