People more likely to get seriously ill from Covid say ending self isolation rules will make them feel at risk every time they go out.
Boris Johnson today told parliament that his Government intends to end the legal requirement that people stay at home if they test positive for the virus.
The emergency law is set to expire on March 24 and the PM said he doesn’t plan to renew it, and may bring this date forward.
He said he will replace legal requirements with guidance and advice, allowing people to go about their daily lives even if they are carrying the virus.
The move is part of plans to ‘live’ with Covid but many have reacted with alarm at the speed in which the regulations are being removed.
Those with underlying health conditions say they feel they are being ignored and left with very few measures in place to protect them.
Pippa Kent, 32, who had a double lung transplant five years ago, said the decision was ‘ludicrous’ given Covid infection rates are still so high.
More than 100,000 people again tested positive for Covid in the latest 24 hour period while 359 people died.
Pippa is currently in self-isolation at her home in London having contracted Covid herself despite being ultra careful and avoiding seeing people inside.
Although her symptoms are currently mild, she said this shows how easy it is to catch the virus, especially given the Omicron variant is so much more transmissible.
‘It is daunting to think that every time you go to the shops, the doctors or the dentist, you could be sat next to someone who is Covid positive,’ Pippa told Metro.co.uk.
‘Whereas now you hope the majority of people who’ve been told they have it are staying home, there will be no obligation for anyone to tell you when they are infected.
‘In all likelihood, it is going to spread like wildfire. I’ve known people who have died or become seriously ill from the virus and even though we have vaccines and more treatments now, it is still a very scary prospect for people who are immune-suppressed.
‘I accept that we can’t live with restrictions for ever and we all want to get back to normal. But this feels like a knee-jerk reaction that could only cause more problems in the long-run.’
Pippa said she fears that even if people wish to stay home to protect others, the change will make this more difficult, particularly if employers put pressure on their staff to come into work.
Currently anyone who does this is breaking the law but the change in rules will push people into making the ‘impossible choice’ between protecting others and keeping their job, Pippa fears.
She said it is simply not possible for her to continue shielding indefinitely so will keep going out, despite knowing that she’d likely to encounter Covid positive people all the time.
‘For someone who is immune suppressed it means that every interaction with people will now come with an elevated risk, I will have to choose between severely limiting my movements or risking coming into contact with multiple people who are infected with Covid every time I leave my home,’ she said.
‘By saying that individuals will have no responsibility to limit their exposure with others while infected is yet another move from our government that suggests that they value the freedoms of the more vulnerable less than the rest of society.’
The broadcaster and disability campaigner Samantha Renke told Metro.co.uk that disabled people have already been forced to take their own steps to safeguard their health because they don’t feel the ‘government has our backs.’
She said: ‘I’ve never really felt fully safe with the government guidelines etc. you still have to ensure people will follow them – I still had to rely on the general public to use common sense and see the value in disabled lives.
‘Unfortunately this didn’t happen. We were labelled as vulnerable a burden and the press hardly covered any stories about deaths from the disability community.
‘We are still battling institutional and systemic ableism and until this is resolved and we see the worth in disabled lives nothing will change and disabled people will have to safeguard their own health and work around the ignorance and apathy that is all around us.’
Along with announcing his intention to end self-isolation rules, Mr Johnson has scrapped Plan B measures brought in to try to stop the spread of Omicron.
Guidance telling people to work from home will end immediately and people will no longer be forced to wear masks in shops and on public transport from January 27.
Disability awareness consultant Sassy Wyatt, who is visually impaired, said the news made her ‘dread the repercussions’ and fears it will make disabled people more isolated and scared to go out.
‘I’m extremely angry about the news that self-isolation will no longer be mandatory for those who test positive come March,’ she said.
‘This is just another tactic implemented by Boris Johnson and the Conservative party to deflect from their inability to follow their own rules.
‘Earlier this week I had to use public transport to attend another medical appointment, all around me people were not wearing masks (you can tell when a person is wearing a mask even if you are blind because their voice is muffled).
‘I’ve been limiting my exposure to the public since the Omicron variant has surfaced, it makes me dread the repercussions in March where many of the UK population are still not vaccinated, and refuse to wear masks even when it’s mandatory.
‘Immunocompromised people, and the disability community at large, have been fighting since the beginning of the pandemic to be heard and taken seriously, with these divisions in place I fear more disabled people are going to be completely isolated.’
The Department for Health was contacted for comment.
MORE : Will self-isolation rules be scrapped completely and when do the new rules come in?
MORE : Boris Johnson confirms mask-wearing and Covid passes scrapped by next week
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