British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is scrapping the last domestic coronavirus restrictions in England, including the requirement for people with COVID-19 to self-isolate, even as he acknowledged Monday the potential for new and more deadly variants of the virus.
People will still be advised to stay home if they are sick - but will no longer get extra financial support.
Monday's announcement applies only to England, which is home to 56 million of the U.K.'s 67 million people.
Many people in England who think they have COVID-19 may now never know for sure.
Starting April 1, lab-confirmed PCR tests for the virus will be available free only to older people and the immune-compromised.
Some scientists expressed alarm, saying that ending support for people to test and isolate would hit poor people the hardest.
"Today's announcement is not a plan for living with COVID, it is a plan for reducing spending on testing and cutting support for people who have or may have COVID," said Trish Greenhalgh, professor of primary care health services at the University of Oxford.
