Covid "Freedom Day" - small business owners respond

"It finally feels like the right time to lift restrictions to help us build back our lives. The Covid-19 pandemic and the series of successive lockdowns since it started have caused a mental health epidemic, and we must now all pull together to get our collective determination focused on a brighter future."

"We are not free from Covid, so how can we embrace what's being dubbed "Covid Freedom Day"? It is too soon and outright absurd. There are still a huge number of vulnerable people who are at risk of suffering serious health issues if they were to contract Covid. I am worried that there are many who will focus on 'freedom' without a sense of social responsibility. Like many others, you can't help but think the government is throwing caution to the wind as a way to distract from Partygate."

"As a small business owner, the ending of the self-isolation rules really is freedom day. Self-isolating as a small business owner has meant either closing the shop or imposing on friends and family to cover the shop or to post out website orders. I am, however, genuinely concerned that the free lateral flows being removed is happening too soon. My shop is a baby shop, and I know that many customers are either pregnant or are going to be visiting someone who is pregnant or has recently given birth. To not be able to test to know that my shop is a safe place to shop is concerning. I also have vulnerable friends and family, so I want to be safe around them, too. At least if I have Covid, but don't have to legally stay at home, it would be good to know and be able to serve customers at the door and warn customers in advance. "I am mostly concerned as both where I live and where the shop is located are in two areas of very low vaccine take up. Less than 70% of people where my shop is located are vaccinated and fewer than 50% are triple-vaccinated. The numbers are lower where I live. I am aware that Covid is a big risk to someone who is pregnant while understanding that there is quite a bit of vaccine hesitancy with many who are, or hope to be, pregnant."

"Covid Freedom Day is something we've all been looking forward to. But we need to know it really is safe to drop all restrictions in order to have confidence that life is returning to normal. The varying views of scientific advisers and politicians confuses the picture leaving many uncertain about what is for the best. For those struggling with poor mental health, or with conditions that suppress the immune system, this uncertainty is likely to contribute to elevated anxiety and an urge to avoid going out in the world. In this respect, Freedom Day coming too early may prove the exact opposite for some, undermining confidence to return to the workplace, damaging opportunity for progression and risking loss of earnings."

"My concern is that hospitality and other venues will still demand a negative test for entry. This is a perfectly reasonable request in itself but less so if they then go on to monetise testing themselves. For example, bundling event tickets with COVID passes for a 'knock-down deal'."

"Overall, it’s time to move on and after two years that time is now. It’s never easy to balance the needs of society's most vulnerable with the needs of business. We now have a bigger common challenge in living and business costs rising, which needs to be managed in a stable environment and tackled with urgency. The time to move from pandemic to endemic is now."

"I am very pleased to see the UK leading the way in getting back to normality. In my personal opinion, it is now time to move on as we have a lot of other important issues to focus on. Not least counting the absolutely mammoth costs of the lockdowns, both in terms of the economy and all other health issues which were ignored. The latter are a particular cause for concern."

"While it's difficult to have faith in anything Boris tells us these days, I think, on balance, it's the right thing to do. For the overwhelming majority, Omicron has mild symptoms and most people's immune systems can cope far better with Covid now. My only concern is some scientists are warning there's no guarantee the next variant will be mild like Omicron."

"There’s definitely a feeling of increased confidence coming through from business owners, who from an economic standpoint are keen to get back to some form of normality and who believe that Covid freedom day has perhaps come too late. As business owners, we are all acutely aware that we need to try and trade our way out of this but we need to be careful that in an attempt to “get back to work”, we don’t try to run before we can walk, and that we remain mindful of the many red flags that switching to personal responsibility will undoubtedly bring."

"The progress over the past few months has been fantastic with the UK public getting behind the booster programme with the results showing we are now in a place whereby we can live with Covid rather than have to continually fight against it. I'm fully supportive of the decision to end the restrictions and hope it will begin to free up the supply chains and allow workplaces to operate at full capacity once again. As an employer, I will still be asking colleagues to not come into work should they feel ill but this isn't anything new. We'll be implementing common sense once again."

"Having caught Covid, and being a parent of children who've had it twice in less than 3 months, I can confirm it's a horrible virus. Even Omicron can wipe you out for a good few days. It's not something you just get over, we're all still suffering physically long after testing negative. As an owner of a small business, employer and parent I know it can cause so much disruption and stress to our lives. Stopping restrictions will just increase the spread and make that impact worse. What's so bad about doing the right thing and keeping some simple precautions such as isolating and mask wearing? I think the current government's handling of the pandemic has been completely reckless. It's not over by a long shot. They've not 'beaten it', they've given up."

"If the scientists believe that this is the right approach then we should go with it. Hopefully, people will use common sense and stay in if they feel unwell. However, I am very worried for vulnerable people, as COVID-19 still represents a significant threat to them?"