Covid: Blackpool mum of vulnerable boy angry as pandemic rules end

The mother of a highly vulnerable child has said people with weakened immune systems will be "terrified to leave their homes" as Covid restrictions end.

Laura said her 10-year-old son Winston has remained at home in Blackpool for almost two years since the start of the pandemic.

She said removing isolation rules for positive cases and ending free testing for the virus was "really dangerous".

The government said it was "important" high risk groups had the right advice.

Covid restrictions have ended in England and free mass testing will stop from 1 April under the government's Living with Covid plan.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the nation had passed the peak of the Omicron wave and it was now time to complete the "transition back to normality".

Laura told BBC North West Tonight it was "deeply frustrating" and concerning for people at high risk.

Winston was one of two million people in the UK advised to shield as they were deemed clinically extremely vulnerable in March 2020, she said.

"The lack of isolation for a positive case and taking away a free testing is a really dangerous for public health," Laura added.

"It gives a bad message to people that the pandemic is over. But it's not over."

She said she and her husband both worked from home and took Winston and his brother out of school at the beginning of the pandemic.

The pandemic has been difficult for the whole family, Laura said

Laura said it had been "really difficult", not just for Winston but the entire family.

"We've had to change our work pattern, so we can educate him five days a week," she said.

"He has not been in the school environment and that's really the best place for him to be learning.

"His older brother has not been able to go into school and when he has been able to he has had to be extra careful."

She said the family had been excited about being able "to do more" when Winston will be fully vaccinated by Easter, alongside "layers of protection" such as testing and knowing people who have Covid would be isolating.

• What are the UK's 'Living with Covid' plans?

• How will the vulnerable be protected from Covid?

• 'The thought of leaving the house is terrifying'

But she said those extra protections were "being taken away" from them.

"It's not just our family. There are other families all over the country with immunosuppressed people who are going be terrified to leave their home."

Laura said going out and not knowing who has Covid was "just wrong".

"It's not about restrictions, it's not about lockdowns. It's about protections, particularly for vulnerable people," she added.

Although the legal requirement to isolate has ended, both the government and the NHS have said that those who test positive for Covid should stay at home and avoid contact with other people.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "We recognise the importance of ensuring people who continue to be at higher risk receive the right advice and interventions.

"This may be particularly important for those whose immune system means that they are at higher risk.

"After 1 April, limited symptomatic testing will still be made available for a small number of at-risk groups."

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