LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – NHS authorities have stated that free tests and self-isolation regulations must remain as the UK learns to live with COVID-19.
It comes as PM Johnson prepares to reveal his strategy for dealing with the pandemic’s next stage on Monday.
The NHS Confederation surveyed more than 300 top health professionals in England and found:
- 79 percent strongly reject or highly disagree with the plan to end public COVID-19 testing.
- 94 percent agreed that testing of health-care workers and other essential personnel should continue.
- More than three-quarters of respondents oppose removing the obligation to self-isolate after a positive COVID test.
- 82 percent oppose removing mask-wearing regulations from the NHS and care facilities.
- 83 percent oppose the elimination or reduction of the weekly Office for National Statistics infection survey.
The NHS Confederation’s chief executive, Matthew Taylor, cautioned that the government could not “wave a magic wand” and pretend the threat has vanished totally.
He said that so much was still uncertain, including the long-term immunity and the appearance of future strains. That necessitates the continuation of a solid testing infrastructure and clear instructions around self-isolation.
He further said that the government was too gung-ho in its plans for leaving the epidemic, a lot was at stake for the NHS’s recovery aspirations, which was why health authorities were urging for a cautious and evidence-led approach. Political expediency must not be the driving force behind this.
The chairwoman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, Professor Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard, said that in the medium term, everyone must learn to live securely with COVID; that did not indicate that the threat to human health and, in some circumstances, life did not exist.
There is a need for everyone to take a more progressive, incremental approach to loosening the laws, keeping a close eye on infection rates, especially in healthcare settings and other locations where individuals were most vulnerable.
It is also needed for the ONS case survey to continue so that appropriate decisions in the future can be made.
“Ending the legal necessity to self-isolate following a positive test is a tremendous leap in the dark,” said Pat Cullen, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing.
“Our people, who are still dealing with the effects of the pandemic, need to know that there is a good scientific basis for doing so.”
