Boris Johnson is urging us to take ‘personal responsibility’ over Covid-19 – so should the government

The prime minister is set to tell the nation that we should “learn to live” with Covid-19, as the government shifts towards a mantra of personal responsibility over the virus.

The announcement by Boris Johnson follows in the wake of Sajid Javid, the new health secretary, saying that we are on course for restrictions to be loosened on 19 July, but he also confirmed that we should expect case numbers to rise significantly – comments that have alarmed scientists.

We will, Mr Javid argued over the weekend, have to accept the existence of Covid, just as we do with the annual flu outbreaks. Under his predecessor, Matt Hancock, the emphasis was on the need to contain the disease. Now it is to live with it.

There are two main reasons for this move from the government. One, acknowledged by Mr Javid, is that the balance of costs and risk has shifted. The vaccines have reduced pressure on the NHS, thanks to the extensive vaccination programme, yet the cost in terms of lost economic activity and damage to people’s physical and mental health has continued to climb. He is right that the NHS has to set about reducing the backlog of operations and treatments, and that people should be confident in seeking medical help.

There is, however, another reason, which is that the lockdowns have become politically unsustainable. When people are asked in opinion polls whether they support the restrictions the general response has been that they do. But if you look at what people do rather than what they say a rather different picture emerges. For example, wearing of masks on public transport in London has been slipping and social distancing has been weakening.

However, we cannot dismiss the concerns of scientists. The challenge now will be to make the next stage of the transition towards a more normal life sustainable. The British Medical Association is among those to be seeking a more gradual return to normality and Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the BMA chairman, said the easing of restrictions should not be an all-or-nothing decision and that sensible, cautious measures are still needed.

This is common sense. While it may soon be up to individuals to decide whether they should or should not wear masks in public places – as confirmed by the communities secretary, Robert Jenrick – good practice must be for them to be commonplace in crowded situations. Mr Johnson is expected to say that people should “exercise judgement” – the same is true of the government. He should use his influence to promote good civic behaviour, quite aside from acting by example. This last point is important. The public has put up with unprecedented restrictions on its freedoms, only to see grandees flout them.

The government should also be aware that the policy may need to change at some point in the future. This is a marathon, not a sprint. If infections were to rise uncontrollably, or were it to become apparent, counter to present evidence, that the vaccines were becoming less effective, then it would have to change its course. This will be a personal challenge for the new health secretary to respond in a measured way to any new evidence that emerges.

If, perish the thought, the increase in the number of cases does again threaten to spiral out of control – leading to a significant increase in hospital admissions – then the government should be prepared to change its mind. There is no shame in that. There is shame in refusing to act swiftly on the evidence, as sadly this government has done too often during this emergency.