UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce a "living with COVID" plan this afternoon that will see the end of self-isolation requirements, despite late safety objections.
Johnson will address the House of Commons around 4:30pm after meeting with Cabinet, before holding a press conference at 7pm to formally address the public.
Those testing positive for Covid will no longer be required to self-isolate, having previously needed to do so for up to ten days if unvaccinated.
Julian Jessop of the Institute of Economic Affairs said the end to these restrictions could help up to one million people return to work.
“There is always a possibility that ending the restrictions may make people more nervous, or lead to a renewed surge in cases, though the risks here are now much lower.
“Businesses may be able to find temporary fixes to limit the damage, such as asking other staff to work longer hours.
“However, these rules could still be reducing GDP by at least 1%, costing the economy £2bn every month.”
But Dr David Nabarro, the World Health Organisation's special envoy on Covid, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he did not agree with the move.
"I appreciate their concerns about absenteeism... but at the same time, what we know about this virus is that it is not good for people and simply just treating it as though it is a harmless virus we think - that's myself and colleagues in the World Health Organisation - we think that's unwise.”
The plans to limit free testing were met with resistance by Labour and some health experts, causing No. 10 to delay the announcement.
Labour MP Wes Streeting told Sky News the plans were “like subbing [your] best defender with 10 minutes left.”
Johnson told the BBC free testing was costing the Treasury around £2bn a month.