Scientists cautious as England set to end COVID curbs

LONDON (AP) — Scientists warned the British government on Monday not to weaken the country’s ability to monitor and track coronavirus after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ends the requirement for people in England to self-isolate if they contract COVID-19.

Johnson on Monday will announce the details in Parliament of the government’s plan for “living with COVID” by treating it like other transmissible illnesses such as flu. The legal requirement to self-isolate for at least five days after a positive coronavirus test is expected to be replaced by guidance, and mass testing for the virus will be scaled back.

The new plan foresees vaccines and treatments keeping the virus in check as it becomes endemic in the country. Everyone 75 and older will be offered a fourth vaccine dose, along with those 12 and up who have conditions that make them vulnerable to severe disease.

Johnson urged people not to “throw caution to the winds,” but said it was time to move “away from banning certain courses of action, compelling certain courses of action, in favor of encouraging personal responsibility.”

Some scientists, however, said it was a risky move that could bring a surge in infections and weaken the country’s defenses against more virulent future strains.

Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, which developed the AstraZeneca vaccine, said “the decision about when and how to reduce restrictions is enormously difficult.”

He said it was essential to maintain “surveillance for the virus, an early warning system if you like, which tells us about new variants emerging and gives an ability to monitor whether those new variants are indeed causing more severe disease than omicron did.”

Johnson’s Conservative government lifted most virus restrictions in January, scrapping...