The legal requirement for people who test positive with Covid to self-isolate will be scrapped on Thursday, the prime minister announced Monday evening.
Boris Johnson unveiled his “Living with Covid” strategy during a speech in the Commons, which also included details on the scrapping of free coronavirus tests for most people from April.
The PM also announced the scrapping of routine contact tracing, the £500 self-isolation payment and changes to statutory sick pay and employment support allowance which were implemented to help those impacted by the pandemic, would come into effect from 24 March.
People will still be advised to self-isolate if they test positive, but there will be no legal requirement to isolate, and there will be no legal requirement for those who test positive to inform their employer of their need to isolate.
From 1 April, only the most vulnerable will be eligible for free testing under the new rules and asymptomatic testing will continue for social care staff, however, the Department of Health and Social Care will receive no extra money to deliver the testing.
Outlining his “Living with Covid” plan in the Commons, the PM said testing had become “much less valuable” in restricting the spread of Covid and that the £2bn-a-month cost of the system meant the government had to “scale back” what it could offer.
A fourth vaccine dose, or second booster, will be offered to those 75 and older, the immunosuppressed and care home residents in the Spring.
Mr Johnson warned the Commons that the “pandemic is not over”, with the Queen’s positive test a “reminder this virus has not gone away”.
But he told MPs there is “sufficient levels of immunity to complete the transition” from laws to relying on vaccines and treatments and individuals making the right choices.
He said: “It is time that we got our confidence back. We don’t need laws to compel people to be considerate to others.
“We can rely on that sense of responsibility towards one another.
“So let us learn to live with this virus and continue protecting ourselves and others without restricting our freedoms.”
The cabinet gave the PM’s plan “unanimous backing” despite the meeting being delayed earlier today following a disagreement over funding.
However, Labour leader Keir Starmer criticised the plan saying it was “half-baked”.
He said: “As a nation there is no doubt we need to move on from Covid.
“People need to know their liberties are returning and returning for good.
“But this is a half-baked announcement from a government paralysed by chaos and incompetence. It is not a plan to live well with Covid.”
Groups advocating for clinically vulnerable people have also criticised the strategy, particularly the end of self-isolation, while trade unions have criticised the decision to end Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) entitlements on the first day of illness.
Helen Rowntree, director of research, services and engagement for Blood Cancer UK, said: “The government is lifting restrictions without a plan to protect immunocompromised people, for who the vaccines are proving less effective.
“The Prime Minister may want the country to get its confidence back, but this will cause huge anxiety among immunocompromised people and leave many of them feeling abandoned.
“This will lead to people finding it more difficult to live their daily lives and, sadly, some people dying from Covid.”
TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said: “The government is creating needless hardship and taking a sledgehammer to public health.
“The failure to provide decent sick pay to all, from the first day of illness, is reckless and self-defeating.
“If people can’t afford to stay home when they’re sick, they will take their infections into work.
“Ministers’ inability to grasp this fact will leave the UK vulnerable to future variants and pandemics.”
