People who have been tested positive for Covid by close friends in England will not need to be isolated if they have had both their vaccines or are under 18. Sajid Javid announced to the Commons.The policy will be in effect from 16 August. The health secretary informed MPs that adults must have their second vaccine at least 10 days before the policy goes into effect.Javid stated that we will soon be able take a risk-based approach to recognize the immense benefits of the vaccines for both the people who have the jab and their loved one's.If they are positive for Covid, people will still need to self-isolate.Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, announced that self-isolation has been lifted for children under 18 after figures revealed that 641,000 children were absent from school last week due to Covid.Javid also announced that he was more optimistic about reopening the country. He told MPs that freedom was in our sights once more and it was time for us to stop relying on top-down rules.According to the health secretary, the rate of vaccinations had reduced the correlation between hospitalisations and deaths. This protective wall has shifted the odds in our favor and we can reexamine many of the measures we have had to implement.Jonathan Ashworth, shadow health secretary for Labour, responded by saying that the protective wall was only half completed. He said this included people who weren't yet fully vaccinated and also suggested that people who have both vaccines could still transmit the virus as evidenced by Israel.Javid stated in media interviews that Covid infections could rise to more than 100,000 per day during the summer by lifting most lockdown restrictions.Ashworth stated: With 100,000 infections per day, that would mean around 5,000 people developing chronic long-term illnesses. How will the Covid waiting list at the end of summer look?He justifies allowing infection to rise so high by pointing out the weak link between hospitalisations and deaths. We are building a protective wall. The wall is only half finished.Ashworth reiterated Labour's demand that the government reconsider removing all mandatory mask rules. Javid rebutted this, stating that the number of vaccines required means you must start moving away.This statement was made a day after Boris Johnson had announced that there would be almost no formal rules for combating Covid in England starting on 19 July.Javid admitted that it was reasonable to assume that the infection rate would reach 50,000 per day by 19 juillet. In December, the UK's highest daily infection rate was just over 81,000.He said that this territory is unknown to any country anywhere in the world and the projections become less reliable as you move further out each week. We expect them to increase as we move into summer. They could reach 100,000. This is why we want to be clear about what case numbers can be expected. Hospitalisation and death statistics are more important than any other.
