Living with Covid
21 February 2022
In another significant development in the pandemic story that started two years ago, Boris Johnson announced today that all Covid restrictions will end in England this Thursday, 24 February.
Free mass lateral flow testing will stop on 1 April, the prime minister said, and the legal requirement to self-isolate for those who test positive will be dropped, with free rapid testing targeted to certain sections of the population like key workers, to be confirmed in due course.
He said that “this virus has not gone away, but because of the efforts we have made as a country over the past two years we can now deal with it in a very different way, moving from government restrictions to personal responsibility.
“So we protect ourselves without losing our liberties – and maintaining our contingency capabilities so we can respond rapidly to any new variant.”
He added that, while the pandemic is not over, “we have now passed the peak of the Omicron wave, with cases falling, hospitalisations in England now fewer than 10,000 and still falling, and the link between infection and severe disease substantially weakened.”
The prime minister said that from April people with Covid-19 symptoms will be expected to exercise personal responsibility, “just as we encourage people who may have flu to be considerate to others.”
On a cautionary note, emphasised by Sir Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England at a later government press conference, he added that SAGE (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) said there is considerable uncertainty about the future path of the pandemic. However, they are certain there will be new variants, some possibly worse than Omicron.
The prime minister said that the aim will be to manage and respond to future risks through more routine public health interventions, with pharmaceutical measures as the first line of defence, since “we have the antivirals, the treatments, and the scientific understanding of this virus, and we have the capabilities to respond rapidly to any resurgence or new variant.”
Indeed, the rapid development of Covid vaccines was considered virtually impossible at the start of the pandemic.
So against this positive background, what is the main picture?
Certainly, the economy has now bounced back to almost pre-pandemic levels, reflected by the many stories on the blog about busy hirers and suppliers, although that means we have effectively lost two years of growth.
And, as this site has been reporting, Covid is leaving many challenges and uncertainties in its wake. Inflation is rising, interest rates are likely to increase further, and soaring energy prices will affect households and businesses hard. In addition, considerable demand and disruptions in the supply chain might make it difficult for hirers to meet customers’ equipment expectations.
There are also challenges in recruitment as the general workforce ages and many workers have re-evaluated their work-life balance during the lockdowns. And will wage earners’ higher National Insurance payments from April to help pay for the government's Covid response, coupled with the higher cost of living, slow the astonishing demand for the home and garden improvement projects that created such strong hire demand?
Although the latest Purchasing Managers Index conducted by IHS Markit for the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply shows that the economy grew at its fastest rate for eight months, most of the expansion was due to spending on services like hotels and restaurants after the easing of curbs on socialising, so perhaps more disposal income will now go towards long-awaited summer holidays and recreation rather than household projects.
So there are many factors at work, both positive and negative. Despite the ending of restrictions in England, the need for sound business management remains as important as ever and there will be many more developments to monitor as we learn to live with Covid.
