So, the latest announcement seems as confusing as ever.
Boris Johnson has announced the end of all domestic Covid restrictions in England in a process starting later this week. On Thursday, the legal requirement to self-isolate with people instead advised to stay at home if they have Covid, or believe they do.
The UK will continue to invest in ongoing surveillance and “keep observing what is happening” in terms of the prospect of new variants, the PM says, and acknowledges that tests are the way to do that if the Covid situation worsens again.
Except:
Free testing for the public will end in England from 1 April, with most people having to pay for lateral flow and PCR tests.
So how exactly are they going to "keep observing" if people aren't getting tested because it costs them money?
I also find it somewhat baffling that the vulnerable will continue to get free tests, yet the best way to protect the vulnerable is for "everyone else" to be tested so they do not come into contact with vulnerable people. It feels like closing the gate after the horse has bolted.
Although the measures seemed flawed from the start, as hardly any delivery drivers have worn masks when delivering stuff to us, who are vulnerable. Yes they are outside, but they are handed stuff to us under a porch, facing the house. They can't just "drop and run" as we can't pick things up if they put them on the floor. Nobody seems to have considered that many vulnerable people HAVE to come into close contact with people, even when staying at home.