综合BBC、卫报等英媒报道，当地时间2月21日，英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊正式宣布，自2月24日起，将解除英格兰地区所有疫情防控措施，正式开始“与新冠共存”计划。

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday said he would end all coronavirus restrictions in England including mandatory self-isolation for people with COVID-19 and free testing.

BBC：新冠病毒:英国将结束隔离法和大规模免费检测

约翰逊表示，从24日开始，新冠病毒检测呈阳性的患者将无需依法隔离。此外，针对普通公众有症状和无症状患者的免费检测将于4月1日取消，免费检测将仅针对于脆弱群体；如果人们感染了新冠病毒，甚至可能不会被要求待在家里。


Johnson said that the legal requirement to self-isolate for people who test positive for COVID would be removed on Feb. 24.

From 1 April the provision of free testing would be targeted to the most vulnerable. People who test positive for COVID will not even be advised to stay at home if infected, the prime minister said.

约翰逊表示，英国是时候将疫情由“政府干预”层面转为“个人责任”层面。他还表示，抗病毒药物和疫苗等“药物干预措施”将是今后的主要防线。

Johnson emphasised “personal responsibility” for Covid in future, rather than the government setting restrictions to control it. He said “pharmaceutical interventions”, such as antivirals and vaccines, would be the primary line of defence from now on.

“新冠限制措施对我们的经济、社会、心理健康和孩子们的生活机会造成了沉重的打击，我们不需要再为此付出代价。” 约翰逊在议会发言中说。

"Restrictions pose a heavy toll on our economy, our society, our mental well being and on the life chances of our children, and we do not need to pay that cost any longer," Johnson told parliament.

“我们不需要法律来强迫人们为他人着想。我们可以依靠这种对彼此的责任感。”
“We don’t need laws to compel people to be considerate to others. We can rely on that sense of responsibility towards one another,” he told the Commons.

“因此，让我们学会与这种病毒共存，在不限制我们的自由的情况下，继续保护自己和他人。”
"So let us learn to live with this virus and continue protecting ourselves and others without restricting our freedoms."

《卫报》报道称，约翰逊宣布该项计划，是在内阁通过关于削减新冠肺炎疫情成本的计划之后。而在过去的一年，新冠病毒检测成本已经超过150亿英镑。

The prime minister unveiled the changes after Sunak, the chancellor, won his fight to slash the cost of Covid testing, which has topped £15bn in the past year, by up to 90%.

这一新计划招致不少科学界人士强烈反对。专家表示，过早解除限制措施极有可能导致新冠病毒加速传播，此举并非“基于科学指导”，“违背了公共卫生的基本原则”，将让儿童、老人及其他易感人群处于危险之中。

根据英国紧急情况科学咨询小组的建议，新冠疫情仍存在相当大的不确定性，可能会出现明显反弹，也可能出现更危险的变异毒株。英国医师协会表示，取消限制为时过早。

据英国国家统计局（ONS）上周的感染数据估计，英国每20人中就有一人感染了新冠肺炎。

英国近期新冠病毒相关数据统计。图源：BBC截图

Office for National Statistics (ONS) infection figures last week estimated that one in 20 people in England had Covid.

就在约翰逊宣布新方案前一天，20日，英国女王伊丽莎白二世新冠病毒检测结果呈阳性。（戳这里回顾）

21日，英媒天空新闻报道称，英国小企业部长保罗·斯库利（Paul Scully）称赞女王带病工作的态度，还称女王的例子可以让大家看看，我们如何与病毒共存。

Paul Scully, the minister for small business, told Sky News on Monday: “She's still working but she's working from home, she's working in isolation. And that’s exactly what we're talking about, learning to live with Covid.”

文章来源：21世纪英文报