Johnson Says It’s Time to End ‘State Mandation’ of Covid Rules

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated his intention to end the U.K.’s remaining Covid-19 restrictions, saying he would lay out a plan this week for “living with Covid.”

Some opposition politicians and public health experts questioned the decision at a time the U.K. continues to see tens of thousands of Covid-19 cases a day. 

Johnson’s comments also came hours before Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth II, the U.K.’s 95-year-old monarch, has tested positive for Covid-19. 

“We’ve reached a stage where you can shift the balance away from state mandation, away from banning certain courses of action,” Johnson said in a BBC interview that aired Sunday.  

The government can also no longer afford to spend about 2 billion pounds ($2.7 billion) a month on its free testing program, he said. 

The prime minister is expected to confirm this week that “all regulations that restrict public freedoms will be repealed,” according to a statement from his office on Saturday. 

Johnson earlier this month said he plans to end the legal requirement for people in England to self-isolate if they test positive.

The move “seems to be a political announcement, almost pretending that Covid no longer exists,” Chaand Nagpaul, council chair of the British Medical Association, told the BBC. 

Wes Streeting, the Labour Party’s shadow health secretary, cautioned that Johnson was moving too soon and said it was the wrong time to scrap free tests, as planned. 

“I don’t think it’s right that we should effectively declare victory before the war is won,” Streeting said Sunday on the BBC. “What’s the scientific basis for making this decision?” 

Johnson has been under pressure to end restrictions from fellow members of his Tory party. At the same time, he faces widespread criticism for his involvement in allegedly rule-breaking parties in Downing Street during the pandemic.

But one Conservative cabinet minister said it was the right time to dial back, even though positive tests are still high. 

With an aggressive vaccination and booster program, “we have broken the link between infections and hospitalizations,” James Cleverly, the U.K. Europe minister, said Sunday on Sky News. 

“We always have to live with diseases. We have to live with this disease. But we have to start to get back to normal,” Cleverly said. 

Positive Covid tests in the U.K. continue to fall from an early-January omicron-driven peak, and the number of patients hospitalized for the virus is down sharply as well. 

“I am not saying you can totally throw caution to the wind,” Johnson said. “Covid remains dangerous if you are vulnerable, or if you not vaccinated, but we need people to be much more confident and get back to work.” 

Over 160,000 deaths from Covid-19 have been reported since since the virus reached the U.K. in early 2020, among the highest death rates in the world. The pandemic has left health services under continued strain, contributing to a years-long backlog for non-urgent medical procedures. 

Daily Covid deaths are now running about 90% below the peak from early 2021, before vaccines were widely available. The U.K. has moved through the omicron wave without a sizable bump in fatalities. 

“Living with Covid doesn’t mean that you airbrush the reality that there are still around a thousand people who are dying every week with Covid,” Nagpaul said. 

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