Learning to live with Covid as Britain opens back up
Over the last two years many constituents have contacted me asking how we live with Covid-19 in the future. I would like to outline how we move on from the past few years and what steps the Government are taking to protect our community.
Throughout the pandemic the Government’s aim has been to protect the lives and livelihoods of citizens across the United Kingdom. Now that 71 per cent of all adults are now boosted in England, including 93 per cent of those aged 70 and above, we have significant enough levels of immunity to complete the transition away from protecting people with Government interventions to relying on vaccines and treatments as our first line of defence.
This week the Prime Minister made a statement in the House of Commons outlining the Government’s strategy for living with Covid-19.
As of Monday the 21st of February, the Government is removing the guidance for staff and students in most education and childcare settings to undertake twice weekly asymptomatic testing. This means more children will remain in the classroom for longer, building back the time lost through the pandemic.
From Thursday the 24th of February, the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test, or for unvaccinated close contacts of Covid-19 cases, will end. Until the 1st of April, the advice will be that people who test positive stay at home.
From the 1st of April, free testing for the general public will end. Free tests for the most vulnerable to Covid-19 and the oldest age groups will continue to be provided. As of 2020, over 2 billion lateral flow tests have been provided across the United Kingdom. The Government will also remove the current guidance on domestic voluntary COVID-status certification and will no longer recommend that certain venues use the NHS COVID Pass.
This is welcome news and a boost for many industries across Bassetlaw.
I am glad that the world leading ONS Survey and capabilities to ramp up testing will be maintained. This enables us to counter some of the uncertainty over the future path of the pandemic and the possibility of further resurgences of the virus.
It important to state that Covid-19 has not disappeared, and it will not suddenly go away. So, I believe we need to learn to live with the virus, continuing to protect ourselves without restricting freedoms.
I understand that those who are vulnerable to Covid-19 may be concerned, so I am glad that the Government are committed to protecting 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. Those who are vulnerable and are concerned can find out more information on what the Government is doing to protect us by looking online at www.gov.uk/coronavirus
