LONDON – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new plans Wednesday to lift remaining coronavirus restrictions within weeks, making the U.K. one of several European countries in the process of significantly rolling back COVID-19 protocols.
The changes will remove quarantine mandates for people who contract COVID-19 in England.
“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,” Johnson said. The other nations which make up the United Kingdom may delay lifting their own domestic restrictions.
As of Friday, fully vaccinated foreign travelers will no longer need to take a COVID test upon entering England. Unvaccinated travelers won’t be required to isolate or take a test on their eighth day in the country. While the pandemic is far from over, the U.K. is just one of several European countries attempting to move society back toward normalcy.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaving 10 Downing Street in London. (AP/Alberto Pezzali, File)
Sweden on Wednesday halted wide-scale COVID-19 testing deemed essential to track the virus the last two years. Only health care workers, nursing home employees and the country’s most vulnerable will qualify for free PCR testing.
“We have reached a point where the cost and relevance of the testing is no longer justifiable,” Swedish Public Health Agency chief Karin Tegmark Wisell explained this week.
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The Scandinavian country has entered what it calls a ‘new phase’ of the pandemic. Updated policies will lift limits on gatherings and end 11 p.m. curfews at bars and restaurants. The public will no longer need to show vaccination passes to enter public spaces.
The Czech Republic announced the same change would take effect on Thursday. Proof of vaccination or of COVID-19 recovery is no longer required in order to attend public events. The change reopens much of society to the unvaccinated who previously could not visit public settings like bars, restaurants, cafes, hairdressers and entertainment venues.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in December 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)
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While the country of roughly 10 million people has seen a spike in cases of the omicron variant, experts predict those numbers will drop throughout the month. The government also announced on Wednesday that mandatory testing at schools and firms will also come to an end.
Denmark last week became one of the first countries in the EU to walk away from all COVID-19 safety measures, making masks and social distancing a regulation of the past. The government says it no longer considered COVID-19 a “socially critical” disease, and its residents will learn to live with the virus. The country of 5.8 million people has a vaccination rate of 83%. It’s an enviable goal for other nations on the continent.
“It would be very nice if our vaccination rate would also move in the direction of the Danish. That would also give us more possibilities,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Health experts in Germany believe the country is nearing its own turning point in the pandemic. Scholz called on Germans, especially older residents, to get their vaccine. Only about 76% of the population has received one dose.
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In France, nightlife will soon return. Clubs are allowed to reopen as of Feb. 16. The country will also drop its negative COVID test requirement for vaccinated travelers. Currently, visitors from outside the EU, including the UK, must provide lab results within the previous 48 hours.
While Europeans are celebrating the newfound freedoms, medicals experts warn that inevitable future variants will likely throw the progress off course.
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