By Hamed Chapman

London, (The Muslim News): The British Government Monday proceeded with removing the requirement for self-isolation for the majority of the public claiming that the Covid-19 pandemic was under control despite little sign of any let up in the number of daily infections as ministers were accused of “going too fast” in reducing the rules.

“The requirement for double-jabbed and under-18s who are contacts of people with Covid-19 has been removed as we cautiously take another step back towards normality, thanks to the phenomenal success of our vaccine rollout people,” Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid, said.

“The British public have played a vital role following self-isolation rules throughout the pandemic and sacrificing so much to help bring the virus under control,” Javid said in a statement.

“Vaccines are what will bring this pandemic to an end,” he claimed, suggesting over 84,000 lives had already saved and 23 million infections prevented from the vaccination programme based upon the latest estimates published by Public Health England calculated against a worst-case scenario without vaccines and non-pharmaceutical interventions.

But Munira Wilson, the Liberal Democrats Health Spokeswoman, warned that the Government is going too far too fast. “There is certainly a need to rationalise the self-isolation rules for those who are double jabbed and under 18s, but not to scrap them entirely,” she said.

Official figures show that the number of cases in the UK continue to be the highest in Europe, averaging again up to 30,000 new infections every day after briefly peaking at over 50,000 last month although the proportion of mortalities remain much lower than during the first two waves.

Wilson said that as country heads into winter the virus “will only spread faster and we still need measures in place to slow the spread.” There are “still 3.8 million critically extremely vulnerable people who are at significant risk who have not yet had their booster jabs.”

Lib Dem Leader, Ed Davey, also accused the Government of “leaving our care homes exposed” as statistics reveal care home cases tripled in July. Official figures show
there were 14,660 positive Covid tests among care home staff in the four weeks to July 27, triple the 4,552 positive tests recorded among care home staff in June.

“Conservative ministers have taken their eyes off the ball again leaving our care homes exposed to skyrocketing cases. They should be ashamed. Their claims of a protective ring around care homes was a disgraceful lie and now we’re seeing again why this shambolic government can’t be trusted to protect our vulnerable loved ones,” Davey said.

[Photo: Sajid Javid MP, Health and Social Care Secretary. (Photo credit: Richard Townshend/UK Parliament)]