Over-80s and the most vulnerable will still be offered free Covid tests after they are scrapped nationwide, it was suggested today.
Boris Johnson is poised to unveil his ‘living with’ Covid strategy later today, which is expected to end free lateral flow and PCR swabs from April.
But under the plans the Prime Minister is set to make a provision for the most at risk groups alongside hospitals and care homes to continue having access to the tests.
It is part of a push to scale back the £2billion a month spent on Covid swabs from the Treasury. Health ministers have lobbied for swabs to continue in some settings.
Business minister Paul Scully suggested today the money could be spent in the NHS, telling Sky News it could go towards ‘backlogs’ and treating ‘other illnesses’.
But Labour, the unions and medical experts say it is simply too early to consider scrapping Covid curbs.
Mr Johnson will meet with his Cabinet this morning to finalise his ‘living with’ Covid strategy, drawn up last week.
The Prime Minister will then go to Parliament to unveil the plan, before presenting it to the nation in a televised press conference tonight likely flanked by Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance.
It is billed as the end of all Covid measures after almost two years of the pandemic, with the power to impose lockdowns and self-isolation rules set to end on Thursday.
Contact tracing will also be wound down, and school children will be told they no longer need to test themselves twice a week, according to The Guardian.
Britain currently carries out about 920,000 Covid swabs everyday, including 268,000 PCRs.
Most of these tests will end from April under Government plans, reports the Daily Telegraph, although some vulnerable people will still be able to access them.
Critics have raised concerns this could leave the country unable to detect flare-ups in Covid cases or new variants in parts of the country.
But current daily figures are already considered inaccurate because they rely on people with symptoms coming forward for tests.
Mr Scully told Sky News today that ‘we can’t continue forevermore spending £2 billion a month on tests’.
He added: ‘If you think what that £2 billion might go towards, there’s a lot of other backlogs in the NHS, other illnesses in the NHS, that that money could otherwise go for.
‘So for every person that is worried about a test, there may be another person that’s worried about a cancer diagnosis, for instance.’
Mr Johnson last night heralded an end to nearly two years of Covid curbs, declaring that it was time for the public to take personal responsibility for their health.
He said: ‘Today will mark a moment of pride after one of the most difficult periods in our country’s history as we begin to learn to live with Covid.
‘It would not be possible without the efforts of so many – the NHS who delivered the life-saving vaccine rollout at phenomenal speed, our world-leading scientists and experts, and the general public for their commitment to protecting themselves and their loved ones.
‘The pandemic is not over but thanks to the incredible vaccine rollout we are now one step closer towards a return to normality and finally giving people back their freedoms while continuing to protect ourselves and others.’
Speaking to the BBC yesterday, the PM said lifting the rules did not mean the public should start acting irresponsibly.
People will still be encouraged to stay away from work if they have Covid, but it will no longer be a legal requirement.
He said: ‘It’s very important we should remain careful, and we’re certainly not asking people to throw caution to the winds.
‘We’ve reached a stage where we think you can shift the balance away from state mandation, away from banning certain courses of action, compelling certain courses of action, in favour of encouraging personal responsibility.
‘I think we need resilience, but we don’t need to keep spending at a rate of £2billion a month [on testing], which is what we were doing in January.’
Mr Johnson hoped to never have to order another lockdown, saying: ‘I don’t want to go back to that kind of non-pharmaceutical intervention, I want to be able to address the problems of the pandemic with a vaccine-led approach.’
But he cautioned: ‘Covid remains dangerous if you’re vulnerable and you’re not vaccinated. But we need people to be much more confident and get back to work.’
The British Medical Association said the Government should only end self-isolation when case rates are falling.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the BMA council, said: ‘You have at the moment more people dying, more people in the hospital, than you had before Plan B was introduced. It seems a rather odd decision to make.’
Meanwhile, education unions Unison, Unite and the GMB urged the Prime Minister to keep free testing and the requirement to self-isolate.
They warned that failure to provide detailed guidance risks a ‘super-spreader free-for-all’ in schools and workplaces.
Referring to ‘Partygate’ probes, Labour’s health spokesman Wes Streeting said: ‘Boris Johnson is declaring victory before the war is over, in an attempt to distract from the police knocking at his door.
‘The Government should publish the evidence behind this decision, so the public can have faith it is being made in the national interest.’
A government source said vaccines would be available for the ‘foreseeable future’, saying avoiding the return of curbs would depend on the ‘sustained population immunity’ provided by the jabs.
