Boris Johnson, the UK’s Prime Minister, has reportedly announced to scrap all restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic, implying that it is time to move on and live with the coronavirus.

PM Johnson is supposedly set to address the parliament to present his new approach, two years after Covid-19 created the world’s worst health emergency in decades. This comes despite news that Queen Elizabeth II had tested Covid positive for the first time.

Meanwhile, opposition leaders are accusing the PM of attempting to divert public attention, as police investigation of a string of lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street threaten to put his leadership in jeopardy.

In a statement released by Downing Street, PM Johnson stated that the announcement brings a moment of pride as the country begins to live with Covid-19 after experiencing one of the hardest periods in the UK’s history.

Johnson stated that while the pandemic is not over yet, the tremendous vaccine distribution has ensured that the country is one step closer to returning to normalcy and finally restoring people's freedoms while also protecting them.

The government apparently also plans to stop the legal obligation for those afflicted with Covid-19 to self-isolate for the week under the ‘living with Covid’ plan.

It claims that local governments will be compelled to manage future infections using existing legal powers and that free of cost Covid testing for the general population will be phased out.

Internal polling by the NHS Confederation, which covers senior management in the state-run National Health Service, revealed that a vast majority of the members of the party oppose removing free tests and self-isolation.

According to David Nabarro, a World Health Organization special envoy for Covid, the removal of the law against self-isolation is quite unwise indeed.

Downing Street announced on Friday that Johnson had filed a written response to police inquiries concerning parties held in the premises over the past two years, as detectives investigate whether attendees violated the stringent social distancing as well as and virus prevention measures that were in place at the time.

Despite clear party breaches by himself and his team, Johnson argued that the public would still follow guidance to self-isolate, when necessary, even if there was no legal compulsion.

Source credit: https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20220221-uk-s-johnson-to-announce-end-to-all-covid-restrictions-despite-criticism