England revives Plan A: living with COVID
England returned to its so-called "Plan A" on Thursday (January 27) - learning to live with COVID-19, a disease that is probably here to stay.
Mask mandates and COVID passes lapsed, and work-from-home guidance ended last week.
The bet is that a combination of booster jab, antiviral pills and Omicron's lower severity will enable the government to manage outbreaks of a virus that cannot be shut out.
Now, the UK Health Security Agency is preparing to switch the focus to supporting vulnerable individuals rather than imposing national rules, according to a draft policy seen by Reuters.
Graham Medley, chair of the government's COVID modelling group said when tougher measures were introduced in December, the severity of Omicron and the impact of boosters had been unclear.
"As the amount of immunity develops in the population, so each future wave becomes less of a problem for government... However, I think the other thing that we can be pretty sure about is that there will be steps backwards.''
A relentless focus on managing COVID, rather than preventing infections, can also have unwanted side-effects.
With the National Health Service resources diverted towards vaccination boosters, thousands of other appointments have been postponed, adding to a vast backlog of elective care in the state-run system.
At the same time, high infection rates among staff and patients continue to weigh heavily on hospitals.
As police investigate gatherings held at Prime Minister Johnson's office during COVID lockdowns, in apparent violation of laws he had himself imposed - and with many of his own lawmakers determined that he must return life to near-normal, Johnson has a strong political imperative to lift restrictions.
Other countries equally keen to unshackle business and personal freedom will be watching.
相關影片推薦
- 2:24路透拆解華為最新手機 中國國產零件比例增多「自給自足」取得進展Yahoo奇摩(國際通)75,117 次觀看・20 小時前
- 2:05萬華黑幫勢力複雜! 三大傳統角頭各據山頭華視影音5,635 次觀看・1 天前
- 1:05何超蓮慶生同框老公竇驍破婚變 33歲生日願望讓人森77娛樂星聞6,004 次觀看・15 小時前
- 2:25科學家發現抹香鯨「溝通密碼」AI分析8700聲音片段揭「拼音字母表」Yahoo奇摩(國際通)29,783 次觀看・20 小時前
- 3:34習近平結束訪歐之行,為何選擇這三個國家?BBC NEWS 中文2,332 次觀看・7 小時前
- 1:37詐了又詐!設局約面交 警逮19歲金髮女車手|#鏡新聞鏡新聞61,242 次觀看・18 小時前
- 1:05Winter說自己好累哥哥暖心安慰 爸爸引用房時爀「把aespa踩在腳下」名言網友笑翻娛樂星聞8,367 次觀看・1 天前
- 1:49上市公司大股東夫婦遭詐 騙光6千萬養老金東森新聞影音10,463 次觀看・10 小時前
- 3:10國民黨操縱選舉的奧步大揭密!揭一黨獨大下的統治黑幕?民視影音4,287 次觀看・8 小時前
- 2:59中部版貴婦奈奈! 女董事偕總裁吸53億逃出國華視影音24,386 次觀看・20 小時前