No longer required to isolate after 24 February??

[CorsicaDreaming]

I heard this in passing from a not necessarily very reliable source at work today. I can't find anything about it and wondered if anyone else had heard of this?

She seemed to be saying that after the 24th February people are no longer going to need to self isolate even if they had a positive Covid test. It would "just be treated like a common cold".

Can anyone shed any light on this?
Or is it just completely made up?

I know lots of people who have had covid in the last couple of months. None of them have had more than mild symptoms like a headache or cold symptoms. I currently know of 4 children who are off school as they've got covid. None are unwell at all, but they are missing out on school.

The vaccines work. We need to start getting back to normal.

It's such a hard one.

Some people are desperate to get back to normal, covid doesn't bother them and even if they've had it, I guess they weren't debilitated and don't understand what the issue is. Sadly it'll be mainly these people who pass it to those that are ECV, CV and others who it affects more.

Both DH and I are getting over it. DH has been awful, I could see the tension in his face within two hours of testing positive, has had sore eyes, throat, ulcers, debilitated with sneezing and coughing, insomnia. I haven't been so bad but even on day 6 but don't want it again.

It's the plans it ruins as well. We were trying to be careful as we're meant to be away - that had to be cancelled (we think DH got it talking to BIL (before BIL tested positive) on doorstep for 5 mins!). Luckily I have leave to use up, so rescheduled in three weeks time costing us 30% more - as we lost early booking discount and prices are higher. Other people will have hospital appointments, special occasions, trips to family abroad they really want.

@DockOTheBay

I'll take my advice from the WHO. I will stop isolating when we move from pandemic to epidemic I think you mean "endemic"

🤣🤣🤣

[quote Theunamedcat]@Fairylightsongs

It's a disaster because currently if your off sick with covid you have to isolate by law so you can't really be punished by your bosses remove that and people start dragging themselves to work infecting people or else they lose there jobs[/quote]
If you work for the kind of company who will punish you for being too sick to work rhen you need to start looking for another job immediately, and the lack of self isolation rules isn’t your biggest problem,

I've recently had covid. I reckon I'd have needed 2 days off before I tested positive then would have been fine to work. DH was ill enough to be crashed out on the bed/sofa for 14 days so definitely not fit for work. Friends have generally needed a good few days in bed, we're all triple vaxxed.

It's a nasty cold (or moderate and lingering "flu") for a significant portion of working age adults, so definitely disruptive if allowed to spread unchecked...

I also suspect far more long term post viral fatigue/long covid if isolation didn't force you to do less...

@DockOTheBay

Could NEVER knowingly walk around deliberately infecting people with a disease that kills Common cold kills people, generally the old elderly, you've never been to the shop or work or school run with a cold?

Yep pneumonia is caused by viral infections that target the respiratory tract. The common cold can kill!

Elderly and vulnerable people die of pneumonia all the time, no one stops to think 'ah, I know I'll go blame that person with a cold'

It was inevitable that eventually covid which is a coronavirus would be treated as little different to any other cold virus at the point it mutated to little more than a cold virus.

I don't have an opinion on the ethics of whether we should isolate to protect others now. I would first have to know what sort of virus caused every pneumonia case that ended in death.

[quote Theunamedcat]@Fairylightsongs

It's a disaster because currently if your off sick with covid you have to isolate by law so you can't really be punished by your bosses remove that and people start dragging themselves to work infecting people or else they lose there jobs[/quote]
What about the 1,001 other illnesses/injuries that mean you're unwell enough to work? Why should Covid be treated differently?

Some very good points raised here.

I agree it’s time we all took back responsibility and made our own judgements over whether we are fit enough to work, not because we need the government to tell us. In the good old days before Covid, everyone was quite capable of making that decision, somewhere along the line, we seem to have lost our common sense

Prior to Covid, did the bulk of the population ever give any thought to those who were immuno suppressed, receiving chemo or even just the frail elderly? Did anyone with a slight cough think, I’d better stay at home today just in case I sit next to someone who might die if I pass on any infection? The people in this category have always been vulnerable, nothing has changed, but suddenly it’s all about protecting them Something as simple as a cold could potentially be fatal but life still went on. I’m not dismissing or devaluing them in the slightest- it is absolute hell to live permanently in fear of infection - I’ve seen it first hand with a close family member - but we took the view that we would rather make our own choices to avoid high risk situations rather than assume that complete strangers were ‘doing the right thing’

Yes because jobs are so easy to come by especially when you have a sickness record

Fwiw I'm on my second go round with covid in 6 weeks I can't even get my son to school tomorrow this is not going well

@Theunamedcat

Yes because jobs are so easy to come by especially when you have a sickness record

Fwiw I'm on my second go round with covid in 6 weeks I can't even get my son to school tomorrow this is not going well

I'm not sure how a couple of Covid absences would stop you getting a job... There are record numbers of job vacancies at the moment. And now you've had it twice (probably Delta followed by Omicron) you're very likely to be free from Covid for quite a while.

Snap @Tillyloveslettuce, I'm on day 9 of my isolation and still testing positive, still too I'll to work. Yes there may be an adult in the room with the students (usually a cover supervisor, but sometimes a teacher from a different subject), but it's not an education. Teachers will still be getting ill whether we scrap isolation or not, and if scrapping isolation means it spreads even more, that's more staff off ill. And this isn't just a cold, I've been ill for 9 days, no-one is off with a cold for 9 days. I'm not convinced that there will be much difference when they do scrap it, I think there's loads of kids coming to school infections with cold like symptoms who aren't being tested. But to think that it means the end of disruption in schools is nieve. The kids may be in schools, but the teachers won't be, that's still quite disruptive. We really need to prioritize getting air filters into schools (in the grand scheme of expenditure during this pandemic, it's relatively minor). We need to stop pretending that this will all be over and we'll be back to normal in schools when the isolation rules are scrapped. Education will continue to be disrupted regardless, and the legacy of this is likely to result in even more disruption. Lots of teachers have quit and will continue to quit, because working conditions are intolerable when so many are off ill, and they don't want to continue to put themselves at risk of illness and long Covid. Who can blame them, because if they do get long Covid, when their sick leave ends, they're dismissed. As shocking as that sounds, that's what happens because there is no mechanism for any other course of action. They can be dismissed because they can no longer do their jobs, and they can't take early retirement on health grounds because we don't know the lasting effects of Long Covid atm. Who'd blame a teacher for quitting rather than put themselves at risk of that? It's about time the politicians were honest about the consequences of this for schools and education, and started to do something about it.

474 with Covid in icu beds. Unclear how many are primarily there for Covid or something else and also caught Covid.

Either way out of 66 million.........roll on 24th March

We all managed being ill before all this so sure we can manage again

Twice since Christmas three times total three jabs symptoms every time today I felt like something was pushing nails in my head and hips which was wonderful

glad to find this thread, just posted on one from today where nearly every reply was that it was good news! There's a bit more to it than just being glad you'll (/your child will) no longer be forced to stay at home.

Turns out your friend was psychic! (unless you work in government?)

From the Guardian, reporting on PMQs today:

Johnson says government wants to end isolation rules a month early, at end of February.

Boris Johnson starts by saying on the Monday after the half term recess he will announce a strategy for living with Covid.

He says the government intends to end the last restrictions, including isolating requirements, a full month early.

The isolation rules were due to end on 24 March.

UPDATE: Johnson said:

It is my intention to return on the first day after the half-term recess to present our strategy for living with Covid.

Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions - including the legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive - a full month early.

I for one will make the judgement as to whether I will be fit to teach with covid if I catch it. Likelihood is I won't be going in to school. Madness. We've got a year working at home today as we have 36 staff ill . My C20 monitor is usually in the Amber or red zone ( not good). Problems in schools have never been addressed.

Co2 monitor

It seems like you were right OP. It’s in the news. Possible end to isolation at the end of this month, a month earlier than expected.

OP is psychic!!

Just another sop from Johnson to his libertarian backbenchers as he tries desperately to claw his way out of a deep hole.