When will England change its Covid rules?


Jamie Prentis
  • English
  • Arabic

All domestic Covid rules in England are expected to be dropped by the end of February, a month before the government had initially planned to make the move.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Parliament the decision was motivated by “encouraging trends in the data”.

Parliament will break up on Friday until February 21, when Mr Johnson is expected to outline the government’s strategy.

“It is my intention to return on the first day after the half-term recess to present our strategy for living with Covid,” he said.

“Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions, including the legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive, a full month early.”

Those self-isolation restrictions had been due to expire on March 24 but the requirement is now expected to be replaced by guidance to stay at home.

Currently, those who contract the virus are able to end their isolation five full days from testing positive or from when symptoms first arose, if they test negative on days five and six, the first day of their illness being day zero.

“What we would simply be doing is removing the domestic regulations which relate to isolation,” Mr Johnson’s spokesman said.

“But obviously in the same way someone with flu ... we wouldn’t recommend they go to work, we would never recommend anyone goes to work when they have an infectious disease.”

The government ended almost all Covid-19 restrictions in England last July, and last month lifted Plan B measures that had been imposed temporarily to slow the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant.

Those included a requirement to wear a face mask in shops and on public transport, as well as guidance to work from home.

From Friday, the requirement for vaccinated travellers arriving in the country to take a Covid-19 test is also being dropped.

The devolved governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are responsible for setting their own coronavirus rules and restrictions.

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*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year

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Reaktion Books

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Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

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1987

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1888

What the law says

Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.

“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.

“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”

If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.

The specs

Engine: 4.0-litre, six-cylinder

Transmission: six-speed manual

Power: 395bhp

Torque: 420Nm

Price: from Dh321,200

On sale: now

Dhadak 2

Director: Shazia Iqbal

Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri 

Rating: 1/5

SPECS
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What is type-1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is a genetic and unavoidable condition, rather than the lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes.

It occurs mostly in people under 40 and a result of the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugars.

Too much or too little blood sugar can result in an attack where sufferers lose consciousness in serious cases.

Being overweight or obese increases the chances of developing the more common type 2 diabetes.

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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

PROFILE OF INVYGO

Started: 2018

Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo

Based: Dubai

Sector: Transport

Size: 9 employees

Investment: $1,275,000

Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri

Day 1 results:

Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)

Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)

Kandahar%20
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While you're here
While you're here
The specs

Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors

Power: Combined output 920hp

Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic

Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km

On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025

Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000

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Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon 

Rating:*****

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Updated: February 10, 2022, 12:17 PM`