LONDON — UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that laws requiring people in England with COVID-19 to self-isolate could be lifted by the end of the month, bringing an end to all domestic coronavirus restrictions.
“Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions –- including the legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive -– a full month early,” Johnson told Parliament.
People who test positive now have to isolate for five full days. That rule is to expire on March 24.
Johnson added he plans to present his plan for living with the virus when Parliament returns from a short break on Feb. 21.
Johnson’s Conservative government dropped most remaining COVID-19 restrictions last month. Face masks are no longer mandatory anywhere in England, except on London’s public transport network. Virus passports for gaining entry to nightclubs and large-scale events were scrapped, as was the official advice to work from home.
Officials have said the government plans to switch from legal restrictions to advisory measures and treat the coronavirus more like the flu as it becomes endemic in the country.
Beginning Friday, the rules for people travelling to the U.K. will also be relaxed. Fully vaccinated travellers will no longer need to take any coronavirus tests before or after arrival, and those who are not fully jabbed won’t have to isolate, although they need to take tests.
