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COVID-19: Cabinet meeting to sign off Boris Johnson's 'living with COVID' strategy delayed over free testing row

Sky's political correspondent Tamara Cohen reports that there is a "big disagreement" between the Treasury and the Department of Health about who will continue to get access to free COVID tests.

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-...g-row-12547921

Originally Posted by ianch99

The real problem here is that the science element of the Government decision making has been deprecated. I have seen no statement by Whitty et al, underwriting the current changes.

What is more obscure is the knowledge and awareness on the current immunity curve. It would be good to clearly educate people how long their last booster might last to provide confidence in the decision making.

Indeed. From Sky again:

'Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance have been notably silent of late'

British scientists and medics have written an open letter to England's chief medical officer Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance, asking them to clarify the science behind potential COVID decisions.

The letter, posted online, references reports that Boris Johnson plans to end free coronavirus testing and self-isolation for positive COVID cases.

It says: "We ask you to clarify the scientific advice underpinning these policy decisions. We do not believe there is a solid scientific basis for the policy.

"It is almost certain to increase the circulation of the virus and remove the visibility of emerging variants of concern."