‘Living with Covid’ means ensuring the whole community is protected

Editorial: If the pandemic experience since March 2020 proves anything, it is that readiness and resilience are the keys to an effective response

Plan B could be needed again (PA)

Given his own record, many will consider it a little rich to be told by Boris Johnson that they should not “totally throw caution to the winds” as the last Covid precautions are set to be abolished. It seems particularly ill-timed when the Queen, a model of self-restraint and sticking to the rules, has tested positive for Covid-19, which serves to underline that this coronavirus is very much still at large.

The imminent end of self-isolation and widespread Covid testing – at least in England – is another gamble by the prime minister. He is proud that Britain is one of the most “open” societies in the world with regards to Covid restrictions, while omitting the fact that it also has one of the worst mortality rates among comparable countries.

Time and again during the pandemic, Mr Johnson has led moves to end restrictions too early, and imposed them too late to slow the spread of the virus. And, from what can be gathered about his own behaviour, he seems not to have taken the rules very seriously himself, and set a poor example to his team. Mr Johnson says that Covid is still dangerous “if you are clinically vulnerable”, but it is also dangerous to the young and fit.