Growing backlash against self-isolation carnage

Business leaders, health chiefs and scientists have warned of self-isolation “carnage” after Sajid Javid, the health secretary, revealed quarantine rules for fully vaccinated people will not be dropped until 16 August.

Javid announced that anyone who has been double-vaccinated will not have to isolate after coming into contact with a confirmed Covid case from 16 August, with under-18s also exempt. The rule for adults applies at least 10 days after their second dose. Anyone who has caught Covid must still isolate by law.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Javid said the approach allowed the government to “manage the virus in a way that is proportionate to the pandemic, while maintaining the freedoms that are so important to us all”. He warned that Covid cases could hit 100,000 after so-called “Freedom Day” on 19 July.

According to analysis by the Adam Smith Institute, an economic think tank, these rising infection rates could force up to 4.6 million people a week into self-isolation by the start of August.

The announcement was met with fury from business leaders. Kate Nicholls, head of industry body UKHospitality, said the plan to drop self-isolation in August “doesn’t go far enough, quickly enough” and warned the policy would extend the economic carnage caused by the current system.

Nicholls said the proposal “significantly discriminates” against a huge proportion of the hospitality workforce as around 60 per cent of staff are aged between 15-34 and the vast majority will not have had the opportunity to receive both jabs by 16August.

She said: “With cases predicted to continue to rise, this means that hospitality’s recovery after 16 months of lockdown and severely disrupted trading will be harmed. Operators will be forced into reducing their operating hours or closing venues completely.”

The rules could also exacerbate the growing staff shortages within the healthcare industry. Chris Hopson, head of NHS Providers, which represents leaders across the health service, told the Financial Times that NHS trusts were already reporting a “significant problem” with staff shortages and that there could be a “very serious issue” if these rates increase very significantly up until 16 August.

Scientists described the extension of self-isolation rules as “perplexing” and echoed concerns about disruption to hospitality and NHS staffing.  

Paul Hunter, professor of health protection at the University of East Anglia, told The Times that rising case numbers would mean a lot of disruption as more and more contacts were told to isolate and agreed it was time to change the rules.

He said: “We’re past the point where quarantining asymptomatic people who have had a vaccine has a value.”