People who are Covid positive 'should go about their normal lives as they would do with any other cold'
Caption: People who are Covid positive ’should go about their normal lives as they would do with any other cold’

Pictures: PA / Getty / BBC

A medical expert has said self-isolation for those who test positive for Covid-19 should be scrapped in the near future and life should continue as normal.

Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said ‘the pain of self-isolation’ could be causing more issues for the public and healthcare workers than the illness itself.

It comes as it was announced yesterday that no new coronavirus measures will be introduced before the new year, with suggestions restrictions may not even be required in 2022.

Asked on BBC Breakfast about NHS staff shortages due to workers having to isolate, Professor Hunter said: ‘This is a disease that’s not going away, the infection is not going away, although we’re not going to see as severe disease for much longer.

‘Ultimately, we’re going to have to let people who are positive with Covid go about their normal lives as they would do with any other cold. And so, at some point, we’ve got to relax this.

‘If the self-isolation rules are what’s making the pain associated with Covid, then we need to do that perhaps sooner rather than later. Maybe not quite just yet.’

He added Covid-19 ‘will become effectively just another cause of the common cold’.

‘We know that because Covid is only one virus of a family of viruses of coronaviruses and we see the other coronaviruses through new variants, typically every year or so,’ Professor Hunter said.

Editorial use only Mandatory Credit: Photo by S Meddle/ITV/REX/Shutterstock (10572063ad) Professor Paul Hunter 'This Morning' TV show, London, UK - 02 Mar 2020 CORONAVIRUS: ARE WE ON THE VERGE OF A GLOBAL PANDEMIC? Fifteen more patients in England have tested positive for coronavirus - taking the total number of UK cases to 35. The influx comes as the Health Secretary admitted the government could place entire UK cities on lockdown if the country is hit by a widespread coronavirus outbreak. But, with fears rising - is there any need to be concerned? Professor Paul Hunter will be in the studio to give his take on the situation. Plus, we???ll be speaking to Connor Reed - the first Brit believed to have contracted coronavirus, live from Wuhan.
Professor Paul Hunter believes Covid-19 ‘will become effectively just another cause of the common cold’ (Picture: ITV / REX / Shutterstock)
PENARTH, WALES - DECEMBER 15: In this photo illustration a close-up of a positive COVID-19 lateral flow test can be seen in front of a Christmas tree on December 15, 2021 in Penarth, Wales. Wales Health Minister Eluned Morgan has refused to rule out tougher restrictions for Wales as Omicron cases continue to rise. (Photo illustration by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)
Could self-isolation once testing positive for coronavirus soon become a thing of the past? (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Once we’re past Easter, perhaps, then maybe we should start to look at scaling back, depending on, of course, what the disease is at that time.’

He added if this happened it would no longer warrant the reporting of daily case numbers.

It comes after just before Christmas the UK cut its self-isolation period to seven days for those with negative tests, and the US has now chopped the quarantine time in half to five days for asymptomatic people.

Health secretary Sajid Javid announced yesterday that there would be no new rules in place before December 31 – ending speculation that New Year’s Eve celebrations would be cancelled.

Medical staff wearing FFP3 face masks walk along a corridor at King's College Hospital, in south east London. Picture date: Tuesday December 21, 2021. PA Photo. Medical staff at the hospital, where 102 coronavirus patients are in general beds and 18 are in critical care, have said they are holding out hope they will avoid a huge surge of admissions before Christmas as Omicron spreads across the capital, but are feeling the pressure over staff shortages due to Covid-related absences. See PA story HEALTH Hospitals. Photo credit should read: Victoria Jones/PA Wire
Professor Hunter suggested ‘the pain of self-isolation’ could be causing more issues for healthcare workers than the illness itself (Picture: PA)

Professor Sir John Bell, professor of medicine at Oxford University and a member of the Vaccines Taskforce, backed the Government’s refusal to introduce new restrictions.

He said the public had been ‘pretty responsible’ in its response to the spread of the new Omicron variant.

‘The health minister has taken advice and looked at the data. I think his judgment where we should go in the next few days is probably fine,’ Sir John told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

‘There are a lot of people who are aware that we are in the face of this large wave of disease.

‘The behaviour of people in the UK, in England in particular, has been pretty responsible in terms of trying not to go out and spending a lot of time exposing yourself to the virus.’

He added: ‘The horrific scenes that we saw a year ago – intensive care units being full, lots of people dying prematurely – that is now history in my view and I think we should be reassured that that’s likely to continue.’

The comments come despite cases of Covid-19 in England continuing to surge over the festive period.

Data published yesterday showed there were 113,628 new positive test results reported on Christmas Day and then a further 103,558 on Boxing Day.

The number of coronavirus patients in hospitals has also reached its highest level since mid-February after a 74% rise in a week – but it is nowhere near last January’s peak during the third UK lockdown.

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