The extension of current self-isolation rules for another six weeks is “not a perfect solution,” a cabinet minister has admitted.
Health secretary Sajid Javid announced on Tuesday that children and the fully vaccinated would no longer have to shut themselves away for the 10-day isolation period from 16 August.
It sparked anger from business leaders who fear millions of Britons will be forced to self-isolate this summer as Covid cases continue to rise – disrupting plans to kick-start the economy.
Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng conceded on Wednesday that the plan to keep strict requirements in place beyond the lifting of other restrictions on 19 July was not ideal.
“It’s a balance, it’s not a perfect solution,” Mr Kwarteng told Sky News. “On the one hand we’re saying that we can reopen and on the other we’re saying that we want to give a little bit more protection in terms of the self-isolation rules.”
Asked about the business owners’ concerns, the minister added: “You can’t have it both ways. On the one hand we’re saying we want to reopen but we’re giving a measure of precaution in terms of delaying the lifting of self-isolation restrictions.”
Mr Kwarteng suggested the government will not backtrack on plans to maintain the isolation requirement until mid-August. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think we have to assume that this is it.”
Those fully vaccinated and under-18s who have come into contact with a Covid case will not need to shut themselves away for 10 days from 16 August, Mr Javid announced on Wednesday. They will be advised to take a coronavirus test, but that will not be compulsory.
Experts have told The Independent that as many as 10,000 people a day could be struck down by the condition over the coming weeks. Analysis suggests up to 10 million people could be told to isolate over a period of just six weeks this summer.
NHS Covid-19 app instructs user to self-isolate
Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UK Hospitality, said as many as one third of hospitality workers may either be isolating or off work currently because they have been “pinged” by the NHS app. She said it was causing “carnage” in the sector.
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the delay in ending self-isolation for Covid contacts “makes a mockery” of the idea that 19 July marks the end of England’s lockdown curbs.
Defending the government’s decision to drop the mandatory requirement for face coverings on public transport later this month, Mr Kwarteng said he will “probably” wear a mask on the Tube after 19 July.
He told Sky News: “Personally, I use the Tube a lot in London, and I would probably wear a mask in that context, on the Tube, on public transport.
“That’s a personal view, it’s not something I would mandate, or necessarily dictate to other people.”
