UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson Announces End of All Covid Restrictions in England

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday that all coronavirus restrictions in England will end.

In a speech on the floor of the House of Commons, Johnson said:

First, we will remove all remaining domestic restrictions in law. From this Thursday, 24th of February, we will end the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test.

And so we will also end self-isolation support payments although Covid provisions for statutory sick pay can still be claimed for a further month.

We will end routine contact tracing and no longer ask fully vaccinated close contacts and those under 18 to test daily for seven days.

And we will remove the legal requirement for close contacts who are not fully vaccinated to self-isolate.

Until the First of April, we will … advise people who test positive to stay at home. But after that, we will encourage people with Covid-19 symptoms to exercise personal responsibility. Just as we encourage people who may have flew to be considerate to others.

The other U.K. nations – Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales – have their own Covid restrictions.

Johnson’s announcement occurred one day after Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth tested positive for Covid. The monarch is fully vaccinated and boosted.

In England, there have reportedly been almost 15.9 million cases and 153,500 deaths from Covid. In the United Kingdom overall, there reportedly have been almost 18.7 million cases and more than 181,000 deaths.

Watch above, via Sky News.