This is how the end of Covid rules will affect Sheffield

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Sheffield residents will no longer have to self isolate, from Thursday, as the Prime Minister praised the city’s vaccination efforts yesterday evening.

But the city will no longer see free universal testing, after Boris Johnson set out the Government's strategy for "living with Covid".

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The changes mean that:

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(left to right) Chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, to outline the Government's new long-term Covid-19 plan.  Photo: Tolga Akmen/PA Wire(left to right) Chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, to outline the Government's new long-term Covid-19 plan.  Photo: Tolga Akmen/PA Wire
(left to right) Chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, to outline the Government's new long-term Covid-19 plan. Photo: Tolga Akmen/PA Wire

> From today, pupils and staff at the Sheffield’s schools will no longer have to test themselves twice a week

> From Thursday, those in the city who have Covid will no longer legally have to self isolate. But it also means the end of £500 self isolation support payments.

> From Thursday, those who have been in contact with someone with the coronavirus will no longer have to self isolate.

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> From April 1, free Covid tests will stop for most people in the city and they are expected to cost ‘a few pounds’ after that.

> From April 1 Sheffield’s businesses will no longer have to explicitly consider Covid in their health and safety risk assessments.

> Those who receive a positive Covid test will still be advised to stay at home for at least five days, but not obliged to under law under, the plans subject to parliamentary approval.

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Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Mr Johnson hailed the development of vaccines and treatments for Covid-19 as "possibly the greatest national effort in our peacetime history".

In Sheffield, 427,204 had been reported as having a first jab up to Sunday, 397,540 had received a second, with 304,644 having received a booster.

But he said the pandemic was not over, warning there may be significant resurgences.

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Professor Sir Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, said the Omicron wave is "still high", adding: "The rates are coming down but this is still a very common infection."

He said new variants are anticipated, with some expected to "just disappear", while others will cause "significant problems".

Mr Johnson acknowledged there will likely be another variant that will "cause us trouble", saying he did not want people to think "there's some division between the gung ho politicians and the cautious, anxious scientists".

"We have a very clear view of this. This has not gone away.

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"We're able to make these changes now because of the vaccines and the high level of immunity and all the other considerations about Omicron that you've seen," he said.

"But we have to face the fact that there could be, likely will be, another variant that will cause us trouble.

"But I believe that thanks to a lot of the stuff that we've done, particularly investment in vaccines and vaccine technology and therapeutics, we'll be in a far better position to tackle that new variant when it comes."

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Sir Chris urged people who test positive for the virus to self-isolate, despite the change in rules.

Groups representing vulnerable individuals sounded the alarm over the end to isolation laws, with the Scope charity saying it would usher in a life "living with fear".

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was "not a plan to live well" with Covid and will leave the nation "vulnerable".