Boris Johnson to scrap Covid-19 self isolation requirement in England

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce an end to the legal duty to self-isolate after testing positive for coronavirus as part of his "living with Covid" plan.

Downing Street said Mr Johnson intends to repeal all pandemic regulations that restrict public movement in England when he lays out his vision for the future on Monday.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has not given any timeframe for the end of self-isolation requirements in Scotland. Details of a new Covid-19 strategy are set to be unveiled by the Scottish Government on Tuesday.

Mr Johnson is expected to tell MPs upon their return from parliament's February recess that the vaccine programme, testing and new treatments can be relied upon to keep the public safe.

It comes after ministers said new variants of the virus are expected to follow a similar pattern to Omicron in being more mild than early Covid-19 mutations.

Speaking ahead of outlining his plan, Mr Johnson said: "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.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to end the legal duty to self isolate in England after a positive Covid-19 test. Picture: Matt Dunham - Pool / Getty

"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."

By the end of the week, self-isolation regulations will be scrapped for those who test positive and their close contacts, officials said.

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

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".

With 85% of the UK's population double-vaccinated, and 38 million booster jabs administered, No 10 said it had concluded "government intervention in people's lives can now finally end".

However, No 10 appeared to keep the door open to state-funded infection sampling remaining in place, following reports that Covid studies could be withdrawn as part of the plan.

Officials said Monday's "living with Covid" plan, as well as removing quarantine impositions, 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 Cambridge University professor, who is a non-executive director for the ONS and chairman of the advisory board for the Covid Infection Survey, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the results had been vital for monitoring people's behaviour.

"It has been absolutely so important as we have gone along," he said on Saturday.

"It has been running since April 2020, and so, as I said, I do have a bias here but it is not just me - I think lots of people are saying how important it is, particularly the statistical community."

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven't already please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.