He explained that when the government paused step 4 a few weeks ago, they had two reasons. First, they wanted to get more jabs into people’s arms – and now they have, with over 45 million adults now having received a first dose and 33 million a second. Their expectation remains that by 19 July 2021 every adult will have had the chance to receive a first dose and two thirds will have received their second dose.
The second reason was that the government wanted a bit more time to see the evidence that the vaccines have helped to break the link between disease and death. And as the days have gone by it has grown ever clearer that these vaccines are indeed successful with the majority of those admitted to hospital unvaccinated, and they have data highlighting the greatly reduced mortality that the vaccines have achieved.
The government is seeing cases rise fairly rapidly – and there could be 50,000 cases detected per day by 19 July 2021 and hospital admissions are rising and it is likely that more deaths will occur due to Covid.
However, as the government reviews it decision to go ahead with step 4 of the Spring 2021 roadmap, they feel they have to balance the risks. The risks of the disease which the vaccines have reduced but very far from eliminated. And the risks of continuing with legally enforced restrictions that inevitably take their toll on people’s lives and livelihoods – on people’s health and mental health.
A final decision on re-opening on 19 July 2021 will be made on 12 July 2021.
In the meantime, the government has set out a five-point plan for living with Covid in the hope that it will give families and businesses time to prepare. The full speech can be accessed here.
We previously reported about step 1-4 of the Spring 2021 roadmap and how a pause at step 3 for four weeks had been decided. That article can be accessed here.
On 5 July 2021 the Cabinet Office published the ‘COVID-19 Response: Summer 2021’. This document sets out the details of the final roadmap step (Step 4) and beyond as we transition towards learning to live with COVID-19. Within this document the 5 point plan of living with Covid-19 is explained.
It marks a new phase in the Government’s response to the pandemic, moving away from stringent restrictions on everyone’s day-to-day lives, towards advising people on how to protect themselves and others, alongside targeted interventions to reduce risk.
To do this, the Government will:
- Reinforce the country’s vaccine wall of defence through booster jabs and driving take up.
- Enable the public to make informed decisions through guidance, rather than laws.
- Retain proportionate test, trace and isolate plans in line with international comparators.
- Manage risks at the border and support a global response to reduce the risk of variants emerging globally and entering the UK.
- Retain contingency measures to respond to unexpected events, while accepting that further cases, hospitalisations and deaths will occur as the country learns to live with COVID-19.
Point 2 of the 5 point plan of living with Covid-19 details what can happen at step 4 including:
- All remaining limits on social contact (currently 6 people or 2 households indoors, or 30 people outdoors) will be removed and there will be no more restrictions on how many people can meet in any setting, indoors or outdoors.
- All settings will be able to open, including nightclubs.
- COVID-status certification will not be required in law as a condition of entry for visitors to any setting.
- The legal requirements to wear a face covering will be lifted in all settings.
- Social distancing rules (2 metres or 1 metre with additional mitigations) will be lifted. For individual settings where the risks of rapid spread are particularly acute, Directors of Public Health, in consultation with setting operators and relevant departments, will be able to advise that social distancing is put in place if necessary to control outbreaks. Such as prisons, immigration and removal centres and homeless shelters.
- It is no longer necessary for Government to instruct people to work from home. Employers can start to plan a return to workplaces.
- Businesses must not require a self-isolating worker to come to work, and should make sure that workers and customers who feel unwell do not attend the setting.
- Businesses will be encouraged to ask staff and customers to clean their hands regularly and clean surfaces that people touch regularly.
- Operators will still be encouraged to use outside space where practical, and to consider the supply of fresh air to indoor spaces.
- Businesses will be encouraged to display QR codes for customers to check in using the NHS COVID-19 app, to support NHS Test and Trace, although it will no longer be a legal requirement.
- The Government will change the controls that apply in early years, schools, colleges and higher education institutions to maintain a baseline of protective measures while maximising attendance and minimising disruption to children and young people’s education.
- The Government also intends to exempt under 18s who are close contacts of a positive case from the requirement to self-isolate, in line with the approach for those who are fully vaccinated
- In care homes, the Government will lift restrictions that limit each resident to five named visitors.
Lifting restrictions does not mean that the risks from COVID-19 have disappeared. Instead it marks a new phase in the Government’s response to the pandemic during which people need to manage the risks to themselves and others as the country learns to live with the virus. As part of this the government has set out some advisory guidance on how the following behaviours are beneficial:
- Meeting in well-ventilated areas where possible, such as outdoors or indoors with windows open.
- Wearing a face covering where you come into contact with people you don’t normally meet in enclosed and crowded spaces.
- Washing your hands with soap and water or using hand sanitiser regularly throughout the day.
- Covering your nose and mouth when you cough and sneeze.
- Staying at home if unwell, to reduce the risk of passing on other illnesses onto friends, family, colleagues, and others in your community.
- Considering individual risks, such as clinical vulnerabilities and vaccination status.
The full content of the COVID-19 Response: Summer 2021 guidance can be accessed here.
We recommend that all local VCSE organisations read the speech and guidance so that they can adapt their own organisational risk assessment procedures for staff, volunteers and service users.