What will 'living with COVID' mean when restrictions end in England?

Since the first lockdown almost two years ago, the lives of people in the UK have been dictated by the laws on coronavirus.

But this week the government is expected to scrap the last remaining COVID restrictions in England and replace them with its “living with COVID plan”.

It will mean that people will no longer be breaking the law if they don’t self-isolate when they have the virus and access to free tests will be considerably reduced.

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While Downing Street officials say the vaccine rollout means “government intervention in people’s lives can now finally end”, scientists and NHS leaders say the decision is far too “premature” and will put people at unnecessary risk.

Here, Sky News speaks to experts about what “living with COVID” will mean for people’s day-to-day lives.

What should I do about self-isolation?

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Since March 2020, the self-isolation period for people with coronavirus in the UK has decreased from 14 days to five.

The current set of rules allow people to come out of isolation after five days if they test negative on days five and six.

When Boris Johnson announced his plan would mean there would be no legal isolation period beyond the end of February, scientists described the decision as “crazy”, saying it would force the elderly and clinically vulnerable back into their homes and result in huge new waves of cases.

Number 10 said it would “never recommend anyone goes to work when they have an infectious disease” – but that is only their guidance – it will not be the law.

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Dr Mike Gill, former director of public health for the South East, told Sky News the new approach “flies in the face of all that we know about how to deal with infectious diseases”.

“Huge splays of the population are already experiencing hardship because statutory sick pay is so minimal,” he said.

“But what we’re now being expected to endure is social and employment pressure to spread a bug and employees and the self-employed having to fight not going to work.”

He added that his advice to people would be to continue to self-isolate for the five-day period if they are able to get a test and it is negative by day six.

Will I have to go to work if I get COVID?

Under self-isolation as a legal requirement if you have COVID, people who cannot feasibly work from home or are too ill are entitled to statutory sick pay.

But after that law is scrapped, it will be up to individual businesses whether staff should come to work if they feel well enough to do so – even if they have the virus.

Gill McAteer, director of employment law at Citation, previously told Sky News: “What the government is doing here is removing the legal obligation and pushing the responsibility on to employers instead.

“They’re saying that businesses are going to have to make their own decisions.”

Companies will have to draw up their own risk assessments and policies on staff who have COVID, but that could mean making workers who are infectious – but not ill – come in.

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Ms McAteer explained that people who do not feel comfortable doing this can file a health and safety claim under the Employment Rights Act.

For this staff only have to prove they believe there is a “serious or imminent danger” to theirs or their colleagues’ health by coming to work – not that there is one.

But Dr Peter English, former Public Health England consultant in communicable disease control, told Sky News that the government should offer more support to people who are COVID-positive but not ill enough to be off work.

“We need a better system for people who are infectious but not ill – that doesn’t use up sick pay and is not punitive,” he said.

Can I carry on working from home?

Several workplaces have already introduced hybrid working policies – allowing people who can do their jobs from home to work remotely on some days and in the office on others.

However, if someone wants to continue working from home – but their employers don’t want them to – they can file a flexible working request.

Anyone who has served at least 26 weeks in their job is legally entitled to ask for flexible working, with employers obliged to “deal with requests in a reasonable manner”.

If the employee isn’t satisfied with the outcome, they can take the matter to an employment tribunal.

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Will my child still have to go to school?

Like businesses, individual schools will have drawn up their own policies on pupil absences.

If a child is too sick with coronavirus to go to class, their parents are legally entitled to keep them at home, as with any other illness.

But it will be up to headteachers whether children who have no or mild symptoms should go to school.

Dr English says that “schools are clearly a place where there will continue to be a lot of spread”, adding that case rates among pupils and teachers are “still high”.

He said that households that have both schoolchildren and vulnerable relatives should be allowed to home educate them until COVID cases drop, but ultimately this is up to the school and guidance from the government.

What if I have symptoms and I can’t get a test?

With plans to reduce the availability of free lateral flow (LFT) tests, people who experience COVID-like symptoms may be unable to confirm whether they have the virus or not.

In this case both public health experts advised staying at home – if possible – for five days.

Dr English said: “Guidance on isolating for five days and releasing on day six is very sensible – because most people are no longer infectious at that point.”

Dr Gill added that if several people you have been in contact with have tested positive, but you don’t yet have symptoms or can’t access a test, you should also consider isolating.

“When it’s pretty clear working backwards that you’ve been at a super spreader event and all the people there have got it – but you haven’t yet – it means you probably will too,” he said.

Will we get fourth jabs?

Currently, people who are severely immunocompromised or vulnerable to COVID are being offered fourth vaccine doses.

But despite studies showing that each dose wanes with time, no decision has been made on a wider rollout of fourth jabs.

Dr Gill said he believes a fourth jab rollout shouldn’t happen until vaccine manufacturers have produced jabs that can protect against multiple different variants.

“We should wait until we have better data on the waning efficacy of third doses, but in the meantime I think there might also be mileage in postponing fourth jabs for the wider population until we have polyvalent vaccines that work on multiple variants,” he said.

Dr English said that he believes the government will soon change the definition of “fully vaccinated” to mean having three doses – not just two.

“I think the primary course will eventually become three doses – and however many boosters you are eligible for on top of that,” he said.

In the future he predicts annual COVID vaccines for the main vulnerable groups – that like flu jabs – are tweaked each year in light of new variants.

“Those boosters would be offered to the same people who were prioritised for previous vaccine doses – and could be in the same syringe – so people can get their flu and COVID vaccines at the same time,” he added.

What else can you do to protect yourself and others?

When the laws on COVID no longer exist, people can still take their own steps to protect themselves and others against the virus.

Public transport companies, such as Transport for London, and supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s and Tesco are still continuing to ask people to wear face masks.

Dr English said that even when fewer tests become available, they are still very important when coming into contact with elderly or vulnerable people.

“It’s all very well saying ‘test the vulnerable’, but it’s just as important to test their contacts before they become contacts,” he said.

If you are seeing a vulnerable friend, relative, colleague or client, ask them if they have LFTs you can do just before seeing them, he suggests.

Both experts stressed the importance of the government continuing the ONS infection survey and Imperial REACT-1 study to monitor the UK’s epidemic and new potential variants – after reports they could be stopped.

They randomly sample thousands of people nationwide, so give a “more robust” overall picture than test results – as some people either don’t do them or report the outcome.

“The ONS and REACT studies are very informative, more so than daily testing and have been the envy of the world in terms of COVID surveillance, Dr Gill said.

They also mean that with the number of tests being reduced, experts can still detect new waves and variants, he added.

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Could restrictions return?

The government’s decision on COVID laws in England has been widely criticised by scientists for not being “backed up by evidence”.

A group of experts have written an open letter to chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty and chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance asking them to publish the scientific justification the government is using to end restrictions.

“No one in the scientific world believes this is being done at the right time,” Dr English said, “so these decisions are clearly being made for other reasons”.

Asked whether we could see restrictions return if a new variant arises, Dr Gill added: “The scientific answer is there’s not a law of nature to say the next variant will be milder.

“There will be new variants – so the government would have to make an assessment based on what it is we’re being faced with.”

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