this week. and then when it comes to covid statutory sick pay on day one, that will only be available for another month, and then in april, free testing for everyone will be scrapped. people will have to start paying for it. there will be some exemptions, though. those who are high risk and most vulnerable will still be able to get access to those free tests. and yesterday we heard the government say the testing regime cost £2 billion injanuary and it needs to be scaled back over time, so lots of changes happening. what does all of this mean for businesses? keith is the managing director and he is with us bright and early this morning. i m interested to know what you think of the timing of all of this. restrictions had to come to an end at some point. is this the right timing or to at some point. is this the right timing orto soon? at some point. is this the right timing or to soon? i at some point. is this the right timing or to soon? at some point. is this the right timing or to so
widely trailed? it be announced when it has been so widely trailed? widely trailed? it has been widely trailed. ithink widely trailed? it has been widely trailed. i think the widely trailed? it has been widely trailed. i think the big, widely trailed? it has been widely trailed. ! think the big, if- widely trailed? it has been widely trailed. i think the big, if you - trailed. i think the big, if you like, announcement, one which we, very pleasing to borisjohnson because like mps, was getting rid of the last vestiges of the regulations, the state telling you what to do, personal responsibility taking over, we knew all of that once you strip that away and see you don t have to sell closely any longer, other questions remain. a whole range, how long you continue the free testing regime, others about how much investment has been put into alternative vaccines, vaccine is meant to be ourfirst line of defence for example, and how much testing is going to be necessary to keep an eye out
keir starmer saying the government attitude to covid is now ignorance is bliss. of course we can t have free testing forever but for the time being we should have access to free test, a similar point made by caroline lucas of the green party and ed davey, talking about carers caring for vulnerable people at home, it s a requirement to make sure people are safe to take a test and they should not be charged for it, calling for a rethink that said, plenty support from conservative benches for ending the legal requirement for self isolation and saying personal responsibility from now on will be far more important than state intervention. there are still questions being asked about the extent of free testing, but something else to be settled, we were talking earlier today about the cabinet meeting being postponed, and it now looks like the existing testing regime including four nhs
today s statement offers no clarity on how the government will stop infections spiralling, the conservatives inadequate testing regime, lack of action on ventilation, and recklessness at the border have put our children s education at risk. this must not continue. the rules are changing for travel too, opening up the prospect of quarantine free holidays abroad to countries on the amber list such as spain, greece and the united states. so i can confirm today that from the 19th ofjuly, uk residents who are fully vaccinated through the uk vaccine roll out, will no longer have to self isolate when they returned to england. but the snp were concerned about increasing numbers of infections. it s entirely possible that with these case rates uncontrolled by the uk government, could lead to further curbs on uk travellers abroad. how will the secretary
case levels which are clearly high but there has been a big disconnect between hospitalisations and deaths as a result of the vaccination programme and the booster programme, which continues to do well. so, we ve got to take a measured, balanced approach that actually keeps the nhs within the parameters of being able to cope well with this and the economy going as well to keep that money coming in to pay for the nhs and public services. right your support the covenantapproach? we know that omicron is more infectious we know that omicron is more infectious but less likely to cause hospitalisation and death. we need more hospitalisation and death. we need more improvements in the testing regime, more improvements in the testing regime, ease staffing pressures the nhs and regime, ease staffing pressures the nhs and other areas are facing, more