Boris Johnson to announce end to self-isolation rules TOMORROW in victory against Covid

BORIS Johnson will announce an end to self-isolation rules tomorrow in a victory against Covid. 

And the Prime Minister will reportedly bring the new rules in from Thursday.


He will repeal all pandemic regulations that restrict public freedoms in England as part of his Living With Covid plan. 

Ministers said future variants are expected to be similar to Omicron in terms of being milder than early mutations. 

Mr Johnson said ahead of his announcement:  "Covid will not suddenly disappear, and we need to learn to live with this virus and continue to protect ourselves without restricting our freedoms.

"We've built up strong protections against this virus over the past two years through the vaccine rollouts, tests, new treatments, and the best scientific understanding of what this virus can do.

"Thanks to our successful vaccination programme and the sheer magnitude of people who have come forward to be jabbed, we are now in a position to set out our plan for living with Covid this week."

Local authorities will be required to manage outbreaks with pre-existing public health powers, as they would with other diseases.

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Downing Street said pharmaceutical interventions will "continue to be our first line of defence", with the vaccine programme remaining "open to anyone who has not yet come forward".

But No 10 appeared to keep the door open for state-funded infection sampling remaining in place.

Officials said Monday's plan will maintain "resilience against future variants with ongoing surveillance capabilities".

It comes after senior statistician Sir David Spiegelhalter argued that some form of the Office for National Statistics' coronavirus study should remain in place.

The PM announced his intention to scrap self-isolation rules earlier this month.

Scrapping self-isolation regulations means millions of kids will be free to stay in school rather than be sent home repeatedly because of symptoms that are usually no more than a cold.

Covid tests for schoolchildren in England will also be ditched next week.

The guidance will instead focus on ventilation and other safety measures to keep kids and teachers safe.

Meanwhile, councils will be stripped of emergency powers that lets them close businesses they deem a risk.

On the same day the last domestic laws are scrapped, No 10 also wants to tear up the final Covid border controls.

Hated passenger locator forms and rules forcing unvaccinated travellers to get two tests before being allowed into Britain will be binned, as long as scientists agree.

And the daily Covid dashboard, which for two years has illustrated the death toll of the virus, could be replaced with weekly surveillance data.

The PM's spokesman hailed the public for getting the nation through the toughest period in its history since the Second World War.

'IMPORTANT STEP'

He said earlier this month: “This would represent an important step for this country as we move out of the pandemic.

“It’s thanks to the British people, who stepped up when needed, both at the start of the vaccination programme and the booster programme at Christmas.

“A boon both for the public and also to our hard hit businesses, particularly in hospitality, enabling our economy to grow further, showing that the hard work has paid off."

Provided scientists give Mr Johnson the go-ahead, he plans to scrap all remaining domestic laws and Covid border controls on February 24.

Free lateral flow tests are expected to be stopped at the end of March, when current funding for them runs out.

Mr Johnson’s decision piles pressure on Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to name a date on which they will ditch legal curbs.

But Scottish ministers have said instead of ending restrictions they could extend the powers, which are due to conclude on February 28, for another six months.

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