The government has published its plan for living with COVID-19.
From Monday 21 February:
- guidance for staff and students in most education and childcare settings to undertake twice weekly asymptomatic testing is dropped
From Thursday 24 February:
- people who test positive for COVID-19 will no longer be legally required to self-isolate, but will still be advised to stay at home and avoid contact with others for at least five full days
- routine contact tracing will end, so fully-vaccinated close contacts and those under 18 years old will no longer be legally required to test daily for seven days or advised to self-isolate
- workers will no longer be required to tell their employer if they need to self-isolate
- the £500 self-isolation support payment for people on low incomes who test positive for COVID-19 will no longer be available
- COVID-19 provisions for increased statutory sick pay will apply for a further month
From Friday 1 April:
- free mass symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 testing for the general public will end, and will instead be targeted towards the most vulnerable
- people with COVID-19 symptoms will be asked to exercise personal responsibility when deciding whether to stay at home – until then they are still advised to do so
- current government guidance on COVID-19 passports will end and it will no longer recommend venues use the NHS COVID Pass
This plan is for England only. Restrictions remain in place in other parts of the UK.