Test and trace isolation policy set to be overhauled for doubled-jabbed adults, government hints

Sajid Javid has hinted the government’s test and trace isolation policy will be overhauled, as he stressed the need for a more “proportionate system” for those who have received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The health secretary, who suggested that case numbers could reach 100,000 per day later in the summer, said he will update MPs later today on the system, which currently forces those who have come into contact with a positive case to isolate, often after being pinged by the NHS app.

Announcing the government’s intention to remove remaining Covid restrictions on 19 July, Boris Johnson told a No 10 briefing on Monday that ministers were also looking at a “move to a different regime” for those who have been fully vaccinated.

While those who have received a positive case will still have to self-isolate for 10 days, recent reports have suggested individuals who have had both doses of a vaccine will not have to self-isolate if they come into a contact with a positive case, but will be advised to take a daily test. It is not yet clear at what date ministers intend to bring in any changes.

Mr Javid will use his Commons statement on Tuesday to set out how the contact tracing system will operate in the future, insisting it was “absolutely right” that for those who have received both doses, “a different approach” can be taken.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Javid, who was appointed as health secretary after Matt Hancock’s resignation last month, said the government must remain “vigilant” and retain the use of some “defences” to control the spread of the virus, including border controls. 

On test and trace, Mr Javid said the government will “make some changes” to the system, adding he will have “more to say” on the issue later today in an update to Parliament.

In a separate interview on BBC Breakfast, the cabinet minister said: “We will have a more proportionate system of test, trace and isolate, and it is absolutely right that (for) those that have been double jabbed, that we can take a different approach than the one we take today.

“In terms of what we will be doing exactly, you will have to wait for my statement to Parliament later today”

Meanwhile, the education secretary Gavin Williamson is also expected to update MPs on the government’s plans to scrap school bubbles and contact isolation for school children after the summer holidays.

Last week, almost 50 Conservative MPs demanded that schools return to “normal” on a permanent footing at the same time Covid restrictions are eased — currently scheduled for 19 July. In a letter to the prime minister, senior figures including former leader Iain Duncan Smith, said the current self-isolation policy is “unsustainable” and causing “unnecessary and significant disruption”.