Team Lopez – Julia has welcomed the publication of the Government’s Living with Covid-19 Plan.
Due to the incredible efforts everyone has made, as well as the phenomenal vaccine rollout, the Government believes we now more away from relying on restrictions to exercising personal responsibility.
All remaining domestic restrictions in law have ended, including the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test, or for unvaccinated close contacts of Covid cases. Until 1st April and the end of the winter, the advice will be that people who test positive stay at home.
Also from the 1st April, free symptomatic and asymptomatic testing for the general public will end. Free symptomatic tests to the oldest age groups, and those most vulnerable to Covid-19, will continue to be provided and the Government will publish more information about this in due course.
The Government knows that those who are most vulnerable to Covid-19 may be worried. Julia is glad that the Government has committed to continuing to protect the most vulnerable with targeted vaccines and treatments. The UK is leading the way on antivirals and therapeutics, with our Antivirals Task Force securing a supply of almost 5 million doses. This is more per head than any other country in Europe.
Uncertainty remains over the future path of the pandemic and the possibility of further resurgences of the virus. The resilience to manage and respond to the risks, including the world-leading ONS Survey and capabilities to ramp up testing, will be maintained.
We know that Covid-19 has not gone away, and it will not suddenly disappear, so the Government believes that we need to learn to live with the virus, continuing to protect ourselves without restricting freedoms.
The Government’s Living with Covid-19 Plan can be viewed in full here - COVID-19 Response - Living with COVID-19.docx (publishing.service.gov.uk)
