Passenger locator forms ‘to STAY’ despite Covid restrictions being relaxed this week in blow to travellers

PASSENGER locator forms are set to stay despite Covid rules being relaxed this week, it’s been reported.

The forms are instead expected to remain – possibly being scrapped later in the spring.

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Many Tory MPs are understood to be angry that they will not be axed sooner, the MailOnline reported.

However, health officials remain worried about needing to track Covid variants coming into the UK with the forms expected to stay despite the slew of Covid rule changes to be announced tomorrow – including an end to forced self-isolation.

Passenger locator forms were simplified earlier this month for fully vaccinated travellers, who now only need to confirm their jab status, travel history and contact details.

Travellers must fill the form in before they arrive in the UK. Unvaccinated travellers must also show proof of a negative test.

Boris Johnson is set to repeal all pandemic regulations that restrict public freedoms in England as part of his Living With Covid plan. 

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Ministers said future variants are expected to be similar to Omicron in terms of being milder than early mutations. 

Mr Johnson said ahead of his announcement:  “Covid will not suddenly disappear, and we need to learn to live with this virus and continue to protect ourselves without restricting our freedoms.

“We’ve built up strong protections against this virus over the past two years through the vaccine rollouts, tests, new treatments, and the best scientific understanding of what this virus can do.

“Thanks to our successful vaccination programme and the sheer magnitude of people who have come forward to be jabbed, we are now in a position to set out our plan for living with Covid this week.”

Local authorities will be required to manage outbreaks with pre-existing public health powers, as they would with other diseases.

Downing Street said pharmaceutical interventions will “continue to be our first line of defence”, with the vaccine programme remaining “open to anyone who has not yet come forward”.

But No 10 appeared to keep the door open for state-funded infection sampling remaining in place.

Officials said Monday’s plan will maintain “resilience against future variants with ongoing surveillance capabilities”.

It comes after senior statistician Sir David Spiegelhalter argued that some form of the Office for National Statistics’ coronavirus study should remain in place.

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