The decision to end legal Covid restrictions in England this week will cause the government's two most senior advisers to focus on health inequalities, the state of the UK's air and emerging technologies.
Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, and Sir Chris Whitty are expected to be the last people to be involved in the plan.
Vallance and Whitty are expected to slip out of the spotlight as the country moves past the emergency phase of the crisis.
We are not seeing the end of Covid, but we are probably seeing the end of the Chris and Patrick show.
The Covid work is still going on. Vallance and Whitty will continue to follow the data on infections, hospitalisations and deaths, the effectiveness of vaccines, and whether further doses or different shots are needed. After the end of free tests for the general public, the GP-led system is being adapted to detect new variant of Covid.
Prof David Heymann, the former chair of the Health Protection Agency, said Whitty and Vallance will probably focus on three key areas. Strong public health capabilities are needed to identify, investigate and close down future outbreaks. The health service needs to be prepared for a surge in admissions in the event of a future Pandemic. Heymann said that more must be done to make the population more resilient through promotion of healthier lifestyles and possibly tobacco-like taxes.
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