Freedom Day a ‘complete fallacy’

The end of Covid restrictions on 19 July has been dismissed as “a complete fallacy” unless test and trace rules are changed before mid-August.

Charlie Gilkes, co-founder of Inception Group, addressed his comments in a Tweet directed at Sajid Javid, the new health secretary.

Gilkes said that he had to shut three out of ten sites because self-isolation rules meant the group did not have the staff to operate them.

“If cases quadruple we’re likely to be fully locked down again. The great reopening on 19th July is a complete fallacy without a change in T&T rules before 16th August,” he said. 

Chris Soley, chief executive of Camerons Brewery, called for a new system. He wrote: “Covid absence is a massive issue in many workplaces and schools We need a system to allow low risk negative testing people to go about their lives to avoid things grinding to a halt.”

Alex Reilly, chairman of Loungers, warned that without the abolition of 10-day self-isolation requirements for all those pinged by track and trace, hospitality would be shut down.

“Two-thirds of our near-5,000 employees are under the age of 25 so we will need to wait weeks to be double-jabbed,” he wrote on Twitter.

“This is going to be utter chaos, he wrote.

The latest date suggests as many as 10m people could have to self-isolate this summer in a six-week period.

Javid said those who were double-vaccinated would not have to isolate if they came into contact with a confirmed infected person from 16 August, with under-18s exempt.

UKHospitality has warned hospitality could be hit hard because nearly two thirds of staff are aged 16-34 with many not likely to have been vaccinated by 16 August.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality has warned the 16 August rule could cause “carnage”. She said the sector was experiencing severe staff shortages, compounded massively by the absence of staff who had been told to isolate despite not having shared shifts with those who tested positive.