Governments plan for living with COVID
The Prime Minister has set out the Government’s plans for living with COVID. The guidance was published on 21 February 2022, which it confirmed that on Friday 24th February 2022 domestic legal restrictions relating to COVID 19 will end. The published plan has outlined that;
- Vaccines will remain first line of defence against the virus with further boosters this spring for the most vulnerable
- All remaining domestic covid regulations restricting public freedoms to end this week as part of the Living with Covid Plan
The public are encouraged to continue to follow public health advice, as with all infectious diseases such as the flu, to minimise the chance of catching Covid and help protect family and friends. This includes by letting fresh air in when meeting indoors, wearing a face-covering in crowded and enclosed spaces where you come into contact with people you don’t normally meet, and washing your hands.
What this means for you until 1 April 2022
- The remaining domestic restrictions in England will be removed. The legal requirement to self-isolate ends. Until 1 April, if you test positive you are advised to stay at home. Adults and children who test positive are advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for at least five full days and then continue to follow the guidance until they have received two negative test results on consecutive days.
- From April, the Government will update guidance setting out the ongoing steps that people with COVID-19 should take to be careful and considerate of others, similar to advice on other infectious diseases. This will align with testing changes.
- Self-isolation support payments, national funding for practical support and the medicine delivery service will no longer be available.
- Routine contact tracing ends, including venue check-ins on the NHS COVID-19 app.
- Fully vaccinated adults and those aged under 18 who are close contacts are no longer advised to test daily for seven days and the legal requirement for close contacts who are not fully vaccinated to self-isolate will be removed.
Further changes being made include:
- From 21 Feb 2022 the guidance has been removed for staff and students in most education and childcare settings to undertake twice-weekly asymptomatic testing.
- On 24 February, removing additional local authority powers to tackle local COVID-19 outbreaks (No.3 regulations). Local Authorities will manage local outbreaks in high-risk settings as they do with other infectious diseases.
- On 24 March, the Government will also remove the COVID-19 provisions within the Statutory Sick Pay and Employment and Support Allowance regulations.
From 1 April, the Government will:
- Remove the current guidance on voluntary COVID-status certification in domestic settings and no longer recommend that certain venues use the NHS COVID Pass.
- No longer provide free universal symptomatic and asymptomatic testing for the general public in England.
- Remove the health and safety requirement for every employer to explicitly consider COVID-19 in their risk assessments.
Order coronavirus (COVID-19) rapid lateral flow tests
Use this service to order a free pack of rapid lateral flow tests to be sent to your home.
https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests