United Synagogue cautiously welcomes early lifting of restrictions
Organisation says it's 'pleased' to see country getting back to pre-pandemic normality but will 'wait to see full guidance' to judge its impact
The United Synagogue has cautiously welcomed plans to lift remaining Covid restrictions, announced by Boris Johnson today.
Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions, the PM said the government is likely to end the requirement for people with the virus to self-isolate in less than two week’s time.
The current restrictions were due to expire on March 24 but Johnson said he intends to lift them by 24 February.
In a move that could allow communal life to return to some sort of normality, the PM told MPs: “Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions, including the legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive, a full month early.”
Steven Wilson, Chief Executive of the United Synagogue, said: “We’re pleased to see the country continuing its path towards living as we knew it before the pandemic.
“We wait to see the government’s full guidance later this month to see how it might impact members attending shul and events and will respond accordingly.”
In the most recent advice sent to community leaders, the US said on 27 January one of its aims was “to encourage people back to in-person shul activity”, but stressed decisions should be taken “locally”.
“Each community should consider when setting local policy bearing in mind the age profile of its members, its building and the wider local context”, it said.
Communities are also told to ensure “balancing the need for people to feel welcome, comfortable and safe in shul”, with masks, social distancing and ventilation.
The US stresses that under current rules, “members must not attend if they have received a positive Lateral Flow or PCR result or are required to self-isolate.
“Where members live in the same household as someone with Covid we recommend communities either ask them not to attend” or ask them to take two tests in a 24 hour period, while wearing a mask at shul.
The government’s decision is based around evidence that the Omicron strain of the virus is less potent than earlier Covid-19 infections.
The PM’s spokesman clarified that the Government would not “recommend” people with Covid go to work. But they said the legal requirement to self-isolate would be scrapped if hospital admissions continue to fall.
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