Cash rows begin as PM closes door on Covid curbs
Chancellor and Health Secretary in bruising encounter over who pays for tests as Johnson says he will not wait for a total end to this war
THE Department of Health will have to foot the bill for free tests for the most elderly, vulnerable and care home residents after they are scrapped for the general public from April 1.
It will have to find the money out of its own NHS and social care budget without any extra cash after losing out in a battle with the Treasury to continue wider testing.
The row between Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, and Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, had forced Boris Johnson to delay the Cabinet signing off the Living with Covid plans, which were agreed just two hours before he unveiled them to the Commons.
Sources said Mr Javid had been pushing last week for more than £5billion extra to maintain more free testing, including asymptomatic NHS staff as well as genomic sequencing and surveillance, but by Saturday had scaled the demand back to £3billion and to £1.8billion by Sunday.
Mr Javid argued that keeping a high level of preparedness for new variants and future waves would save money in the long run by avoiding the need for costly lockdowns, but Mr Sunak tried to pull rank by telling him to spend the money elsewhere.
The bruising encounter between Mr Javid and Mr Sunak could have longterm consequences if each man tries to blame the other for any cuts in NHS services or delays in dealing with the NHS backlog.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will determine the specific groups entitled to free tests when they end for the general public on April 1.
Government sources indicated it was likely to include the over-80s and clinically vulnerable such as those requiring immuno-suppressant or antiviral drugs.
Care home patients will continue to get regular free asymptomatic testing and staff will be entitled to them if symptomatic. Free diagnostic testing will continue for NHS patients with stocks available for asymptomatic “surge” testing of staff if needed.
Sir Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Officer, hinted that it was yet to be resolved who precisely will retain free testing. “Testing must be there for people and that definition of people who are at risk is critical for appropriate use of testing,” he said.
Mr Johnson told MPS the testing, tracing and isolation budget had come at a “vast cost”, exceeding the entire budget of the home office in 2021, a further £15.7billion in this financial year and £2billion in January alone at the height of the omicron wave. “We must now scale this back,” he said.
Twice-weekly asymptomatic testing for staff and students in most education and childcare settings will also end from April 1.
Free lateral flow tests (LFTS) have been rationed ahead of the announcement of the Government’s “living with Covid” plan, reports suggest.
The UKHSA is also working with private sector companies to ensure that lateral flow tests will be available in supermarkets and pharmacies when they can no longer be ordered from NHS Test and Trace for free.
The Government is keen to avoid a repeat of the travel test rip-offs that saw private companies charging more than £100 for PCR tests.
Ministers want to ensure there is a regulated market and see no reason why a pack of six lateral flow tests should cost more than £20.
In an attempt to stop panic buying of the kits before April 1, the Government has started rationing lateral flow tests to one pack of seven tests every three days instead of one every 24 hours.
End of self-isolation will treat Covid like flu
People who test positive for coronavirus will no longer be legally required to self-isolate from Thursday, Boris Johnson has announced.
The Prime Minister said he would not “wait for a total end to this war” before lifting remaining restrictions, warning that to do so would involve “restricting the liberties of the British people for a long time”.
Anyone who receives a positive test result from Thursday will be advised to isolate for five days and avoid contact with vulnerable people, but they will no longer be required to do so by law, nor to tell their employers that they have the virus.
People who are unvaccinated and have come into close contact with a positive case of the virus will also no longer be required to isolate.
From April 1, when the general public will no longer be able to access free tests, the guidance will change again to suggest that people with Covid symptoms should exercise caution to avoid spreading the disease.
“We will ask people with Covid-like symptoms to exercise personal responsibility just as we encourage those who may have flu to be considerate to others,” said Mr Johnson.
At his subsequent press conference, he suggested the UK could “learn” from Germany who have stricter rules about not going to work when sick.
“I’m told they’re much more disciplined about not going to work if you’re sick,” he said.
From April 1, the Government will remove the Covid provisions on statutory sick pay, which allow employees to claim sick pay and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) from the first day they are not at work.
From March 24, the system will return to its pre-pandemic form, which lets people claim sick pay after four days off work and ESA after seven days.
Mr Johnson denied there was a “division between gung-ho politicians and cautious, anxious scientists”.
Asked if he would quarantine if he tested positive for the virus after the requirement to self-isolate is lifted after April 1, Mr Johnson said he would “exercise restraint and responsibility”.
By contrast, Sir Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer outlined three situations in which it might be sensible to take precautions and test. The first was if the rate of Covid remained “very high”. The second was your environment: “If you’re in a crowded environment, absolutely,” he said.
And a test would be necessary before “mixing with vulnerable people”. He said: “This is about minimising the risk to other people.”
Future-proofing against variants
Protection against laboratory leaks will be stepped up, said Mr Johnson, as he set out a strategy to future-proof Britain against another pandemic.
He said that the UK Biosecurity Strategy would be refreshed to shield the country against both natural spillovers and accidental releases, as well as biological threats from other countries or terrorists.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) infection survey will also remain in place to monitor the virus and laboratories will keep the capability to ramp up testing to combat any new variant.
But Mr Johnson made clear that the virus would now be managed through public health and pharmaceutical interventions as the “first line of defence”.
Vaccination will also continue into the future with the UK securing supplies of new bivalent vaccines currently in trials, which can combat multiple variants in one jab.
Britain will also host a global pandemic preparedness summit next month, and is expected to sign an international treaty to continue surveillance.
Face masks no longer compulsory
Following the abolition of the Covid regulations, face masks will no longer be legally compulsory anywhere.
Instead, it will be left up to businesses and individuals to decide the approach they adopt, which means that companies, theatres and shops could still request that they should be worn by their employees and customers.
Yesterday Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said masks would no longer be compulsory on the London Underground, even though officials have the power to impose them as a “condition of carriage”.
Government withdraws support for domestic Covid passports
Boris Johnson said from April 1 the use of voluntarily Covid status certification will no longer be recommended but left open the possibility that they could still be used by businesses, theatres and other venues.
But the Government said the pass within the NHS app for domestic purposes would only be available for a “limited period”. It will, however, continue within the NHS app for international travel to allow people to declare their vaccinated or Covid recovery status.
Businesses urged to scale back working from home
The Prime Minister suggested companies should consider lifting work from home policies to restore public confidence after the pandemic.
Asked in the Commons what work he was doing to convince people it is now safe to leave their homes after “two years of fear being instilled in the population”, the Prime Minister suggested returning to the office would be a place to begin.
“We do need people to get their confidence back, and what I think people can do to set an example [is] they can go to work,” he said.
Full guidance for businesses is expected before April 1, when tests will no longer be free for the general public. That could include the advice that offices should consider lifting their work from home policies.
The Government repealed its advice for employees to work remotely last month, but official figures from the ONS show that by the end of January, more than a third of workers were still working from home.
Virtual courts continue despite bonfire of final Covid laws
Virtual court hearings will become a permanent feature to clear the backlog of cases that has built up in the pandemic, despite emergency Covid laws being scrapped by the Government.
More than 12,000 hearings per week have taken place across 3,200 virtual courtrooms, and the power to continue them will be transferred to a new police and crime act when remaining coronavirus laws expire in the next six months.
Coroners will also be given the permanent power to carry out inquests without a jury where Covid is suspected as a cause of death.
In all, 40 temporary non-devolved powers were made under coronavirus laws, of which half have already expired. Of the remaining 20, four cover the inquest and virtual court hearing provisions, and the other 16 will expire at midnight on March 24.
They include the emergency registration of nurses, healthcare workers and social workers; the funding of employers’ liabilities for statutory sick pay; powers in relations to the transportation, storage and disposal of dead bodies; tenants’ protection from eviction and the relaxing of rules covering medical certificates for cremations.
‘Testing must be there for people and that definition of people who are at risk is critical for appropriate use of testing’
‘We do need people to get their confidence back, and what I think people can do to set an example [is] they can go to work’
Hospital visits
Hospital trusts must keep decisionmaking powers over face masks and visitors, NHS leaders have said, as Boris Johnson announced his “living with Covid” plan.
The Daily Telegraph previously reported that all 125 hospital trusts in England are currently limiting families from visiting loved ones in hospital.
Despite some trusts reducing their restrictions, around a fifth still have all routine visits suspended.
Boris Johnson made no mention of any changes to hospital visiting rules in yesterday’s announcement.