MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK PM Johnson to isolate after close contact with positive COVID-19 case

England will lift all covid measures as of Monday but the PM needs not to leave Downing St

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was forced to backtrack on his decision to stick to his commitments despite having been in touch with a positive case of covid-19.

Johnson and Finance Minister Rishi Sunak will be subject to the NHS' protocol for combating the coronavirus after both were in contact with Health Minister Sajid Javid, who tested positive for the disease Saturday.

Downing Street said Sunday in a statement the men will participate in a daily contact testing pilot that will allow them to continue to work from Downing Street but self-isolate when not in their offices.

All three officials had already been vaccinated with two doses in one of the countries with the most prolific immunization campaigns, where almost 70% of its population has received the full treatment. In the UK, 87.8% of adults have received at least one dose of the covid-19 vaccine.

Af of Monday, England will suspend all restrictions such as the mandatory use of masks and measures of social distancing, to become the first country in the United Kingdom to do so.

Changes include the end to the mandatory use of masks in public environments; no more restrictions on meetings and gatherings; on-site work may resume; no more social distancing measures; an end to the capacity limit in hospitals and clinics and the reopening of nightclubs and social clubs

However, the end of the rules to prevent contagion does not apply to Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

Johnson has said the reopening will go forward even though new infections are at their highest level since January, driven by the delta variant.

One restriction that will not be lifted Monday is the requirement on travellers from France to isolate for up to 10 days on entering Britain, even if they are fully vaccinated. However, fully vaccinated travellers from most of the rest of Europe can forgo quarantining as of Monday as planned.