What will ‘living with Covid’ actually mean?

Science Weekly

The Guardian

Science

4.2 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 February 2022

⏱️ 14 minutes

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Summary

Last week Boris Johnson announced that all Covid regulations in England, including the requirement to isolate after testing positive, were due to be abolished on 24 February. Whilst the Omicron variant has caused fewer hospitalisations and deaths than many predicted, some scientists say the changes may be going too far, too soon. Madeleine Finlay gets the Guardian science correspondent Hannah Devlin’s view on whether there’s scientific evidence backing up this decision and what the changes could look like. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the blue.
0:22.0	Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue,
0:26.0	it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions,
0:31.0	including the legal requirement to self isolate if you test polka. domestic restrictions in England could end on the 20 years.
0:34.7	A full month early, Mrs. Duke.
0:39.7	This means that all COVID restrictions in England could end on the 24th of February.
0:47.0	And whilst some might be asking, why now?
0:51.0	The announcement comes of course at a difficult time for the Prime Minister politically
0:54.8	leading many to suspect a political motivation behind the move. But whether you believe that or not,
1:00.5	England will be one of the first Western countries to leave restrictions behind.
1:06.2	Others are wondering what will living with the virus actually mean? It's a question that's particularly important for those who, despite vaccinations, are still clinically vulnerable to COVID-19.
1:25.0	Case numbers are still quite high.
1:27.0	We can't deny that and hospital numbers are still quite high.
1:30.8	And sadly people are still dying from this disease. So for those people who are
1:35.3	clinically vulnerable this is still a huge worry. Many of the unknowns may be answered on the 21st of February when the government is set to publish a document called Living Safely with COVID, outlining the changes.
1:56.9	But until then we want to know is there any science that backs up this decision? What could happen when all the
2:02.2	restrictions are lifted?
2:04.0	And will we still isolate when there's no longer a legal requirement to do so?
2:11.0	From the Guardian, I'm Madeline Finley and this is Science Weekly.
2:17.0	Hannah Devlin, you're a guardian science correspondent and so I've really been
2:28.2	looking forward to getting your thoughts on all of this because Boris Johnson's
2:32.2	announcement in Parliament last week that all COVID
	...

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