Kwarteng: Businesses “can’t have it both ways” with self-isolation rules
Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has defended the government’s decision to keep self-isolation rules while other restrictions are dropped from 19 July.
It comes after Conservative MPs and business leaders – especially in the hospitality industry – slammed the decision for the effect it would have on staff operating capacity.
Kwarteng told Sky News: “You can’t have it both ways. On the one hand we are saying that we want to reopen but we are giving a measure of precaution in terms of delaying lifting the self-isolation restrictions,” he said.
He added that it was a “precaution worth taking” but admitted “it’s not a perfect solution”.
“It’s a balance. On the one hand we’re saying that we can reopen, and on the other hand we’re saying that we want to give a little more protection in terms of the self-isolation rules,” he said.
While the majority of the coronavirus restrictions on life in public – including compulsory face coverings, limits on large events and crowds, the one-metre-plus rule, table service and nightclub closures – will be lifted on 19 July, the self-isolation rules will remain in place for longer.
Anyone who is notified by the NHS Track and Trace app after coming into close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 will still have to self-isolate. As of 16 August, these rules will no longer apply to those who are double-vaxxed.
But business leaders have warned that the continuation of the rules will cause the severe staff shortages they are already facing to continue, especially for the hospitality industry where many workers are younger and therefore unlikely to receive their second vaccine by the 16 August.
Chief executive of UK Hospitality Kate Nicholls told Sky News it was “not an either or” between effective transmission control and businesses operating fully.
“What we are asking for is pragmatic adjustment to avoid disadvantaging young workers – test to release as per international travel will reduce disruption without reducing protection,” she said.
New health secretary Sajid Javid predicted as many as 100,000 people a day could test positive for Covid as the UK unlocks from restrictions.
But with each Covid case resulting in an average of one additional individual forced to self-isolate per week, that means 1.4m Brits could be forced to stay at home.
Chris Hopson, Head of NHS Providers, told the Financial Times that the health service was also struggling with staff shortages as a result of ‘close contact’ self-isolation orders.
Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy has called for better sick pay measures for people who need to self-isolate, and told Sky News: “People shouldn’t be forced to choose between protecting their family and protecting the country.”