The government bonfire of Covid-19 regulations continues – but will we regret it?

The ministerial bonfire of Covid-19 controls continues. Precautionary, sensible, low-impact and mitigating measures are being turned to ashes with an almost gleeful abandon.

The new health secretary, Sajid Javid, has been playing with the matches again, and seemed to relish the abolition of self-isolation for those notified by the app of a close contact with Covid (provided they have had two doses of the vaccine). This measure was one of the rare useful outcomes of the billions spent on test and trace.

A few minutes later, the House of Commons was treated to the spectacle of Gavin Williamson, gorged with excitement, puncturing the school bubbles that, though inconvenient, have also reduced the spread of the virus and helped prevent schools from becoming Covid hubs. The under-18s will also be able to skip self-isolation after contact with a Covid case.

It feels excessive and rushed – though it has the (possibly grudging) support of the chief medical and scientific officers – and it is not being emulated elsewhere (so far) in the UK. The government has one, and only one, argument to underpin the strategy, which is that the vaccines programme represents a solid, impregnable “wall of defence” against the consequences of the rising wave of infections. Yet it is obvious that the wall is, at best, partial.

In case anyone hadn’t noticed, it has not been finished. Large numbers of younger people have not been vaccinated or have received only one jab, and even those who have had two jabs won’t all be up to full-strength immunity. The level of vaccination may be impressive by international standards – and the rollout a tribute to the operational skills of the NHS, public health officials and the armed forces – but the coronavirus doesn’t mind about any of that. What matters is the overall level of protection in the community as a whole. The “defensive wall”, in other words, has a big hole in it.

For those with medical conditions, or those unable to take a jab, the new mask-free, zero-social-distance freedoms are just the opposite – making public transport, pubs, restaurants, cinemas and theatres places to be feared. It is certainly callous.

The relaxation of controls and preventative measures in schools is especially worrying. Fortunately the holidays are at hand, and the summer months will provide a gap in transmissions while the vaccination programme makes further progress. However, to throw masks away in schools and in other high-risk environments in these circumstances is an act of wanton neglect, and is difficult to comprehend.

We have been here before. The country witnessed, in the first wave of infections, a far harsher impact on those working in public transport, in the hotels sector, and in similar public-facing environments. It will happen again, even with vaccinations.

It is as if we have learned nothing from what happened last year. Vaccination is being presented as though it were a panacea, when – whatever its immense value – it is not that. The duty of care that falls on the government is to keep Covid deaths to a minimum. Instead, the great unlock is proceeding at a reckless pace.

It may well fail, even on its own terms. The word “irreversible” has not been heard much in recent days, and there is the potential for a wave of Covid, along with seasonal flu and a large backlog of non-Covid-related conditions, to overwhelm hospitals. Another lockdown seems more likely than not at some point, with all the economic damage it will entail. Is that what we want?