UK Ends Self-Quarantine Rules
France May Lift Vaccine Pass Requirement
Protesters are demonstrating against the COVID-19 vaccination certificate system in front of the Palais Bourbon, where the French Parliament is located in Paris, last month on the 16th (local time). / Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] The debate over COVID-19 regulations is heating up in Europe. Recently, the UK announced the abolition of self-quarantine rules, and France stated that it may lift the vaccine pass as early as late March to early April.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the 'plan to abolish COVID-19 regulations,' including self-quarantine rules for confirmed cases, in the House of Commons on the 9th (local time). The UK government initially planned to eliminate self-quarantine for confirmed cases by not extending the related quarantine law after it expires on March 24, but Johnson's plan is to change it to a recommendation around the end of this month.
Johnson also said he would submit a 'With COVID' strategy to Parliament on the 21st. This is expected to include measures such as reducing testing centers and limiting free rapid tests to essential workers, schools, and hospitals.
As of the 9th, the UK's daily new confirmed cases are about 68,000. The total new cases over the past seven days reached 485,000, and the death toll on the 9th was 276, which has not increased significantly compared to the rapid rise in confirmed cases.
UK experts have expressed that this is a 'dangerous gamble.' Robert Peston, political editor of ITV News, claimed that none of the scientists advising on COVID-19 policies were aware of the early abolition of self-quarantine.
He reported that scientists from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said, "This is politics."
Dr. Steven Griffin, a virologist at the University of Leeds, criticized in an interview with Sky News, saying, "This is madness. It violates all fundamental principles of public health. It is not okay for vulnerable people, the elderly, and students who have not yet been vaccinated."
Meanwhile, France is also expected to possibly lift the COVID-19 vaccine pass as early as this spring. Government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said in a briefing after the Cabinet meeting on the 9th (local time) that the spread of COVID-19 is slowing down and expressed hope to remove restrictions as soon as possible once the hospital situation sufficiently improves.
Attal added that there might also be changes to the guidelines requiring mask-wearing indoors along with the lifting of the vaccine pass.
However, he repeatedly emphasized that the fifth wave of COVID-19 has not yet ended in France, and the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized is higher than in the spring of 2020 when the pandemic began.
France's new COVID-19 cases peaked at 500,000 on the 25th of last month and have since decreased to around 200,000 recently. France has the fourth highest cumulative confirmed cases worldwide at 21,039,639 and ranks 11th globally in cumulative deaths with 133,614.
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