Clinically at-risk Britons won't shield when Covid curbs are lifted.
More than two million clinically vulnerable Britons will be warned to limit social contact when Covid restrictions are lifted on July 19.
Ministers are to issue advice in the coming days to the millions who 'shielded' at home during the first lockdown last year.
Sources said the advice would 'set out the risks' involved in exploiting the new freedoms – but would not tell them to stay at home.
'There were so many downsides to shielding, such as isolation, and the vaccine programme means we are in a very different situation to last year,' a source said.
'But it is right to remind the most vulnerable that there are still risks.'
All clinically vulnerable people have been offered two vaccine doses which slashes their risk of serious illness.
But health minister Lord Bethell yesterday acknowledged that the Government was 'to a certain extent walking into the unknown' by lifting all restrictions on July 19 at a time when cases are soaring.
He also said some with weak immune systems may be feeling 'left behind'.
Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Brinton said any advice to the clinically vulnerable should be issued 'extremely urgently', adding: 'They may be planning to mix with people, or perhaps even go on holiday.'
Lord Bethell said: 'If you are at home and your immune system does not work as well as other people's, and you see the rest of the country opening up, you will feel extremely uncomfortable, as though the world has moved on and that you have perhaps been left behind.
'On an emotional level, I completely sympathise with that.'
Lord Bethell acknowledged the need for 'clear advice' but said it would have to be 'tailored' to reflect people's individual conditions.
Delta variant is reinfecting people who have already had Covid-19
People who have previously caught Covid are now more likely to be reinfected because of the delta variant, a study has found.
Laboratory analysis revealed that the mutation that originated in India is four times more able to overcome protective antibodies from a previous infection compared to the UK’s alpha variant.
The study also found that a single dose of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines provided just 10 per cent protection against the delta variant.
The variant was already thought to be up to 60 per cent more infectious than the version which swept the UK last winter.
The findings, published in the journal Nature, help explain why the virus is spreading so quickly, particularly among younger adults, fewer of whom are double-vaccinated.
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Full list of COVID Omicron XE symptoms as 600 new variant cases detected in UK
More than 600 people have tested positive for a brand new coronavirus sub-variant that has swept through the UK. The COVID Omicron XE variant has mutated from the Omicron variant yet the symptoms are allegedly slightly different.
When the Omicron variant was first detected, it was found to be more easily transmissible than the previous variants, including Delta. This latest variant, Omicron XE, is thought to be more like a cold with runny noses and sneezing being the most commonly reported symptoms as well as a sore throat.
In the beginning, there were three main symptoms to be aware of for COVID - a new, or continuous cough, fever or a loss of smell. COVID XE was first identified in mid-January with more than 600 cases reported across the UK so far.
What are the new symptoms of COVID XE?
The new variant COVID XE is a mutation of the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 strains - and is referred to as a "recombinant". The most likely symptoms are:
Colds
Coughs
Running nose
Sore throat
As COVID variants meet they multiply and evolve by sharing their genome or characteristics, therefore ending up with a recombinant. However, the virus is more likely to spread as it has reported to be 10% more transmissible than other strains.
Meanwhile, the most recent data from UK public health officials finds that the new strain only accounts for 1% of cases in Britain. Thankfully, health bosses do not believe this variant is more severe than its predecessors with the vaccine holding up the barrier against the virus successfully.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), early tests indicated XE is around 10% more transmissible - but the body has added the findings need more investigation. The WHO report published last week said: "Early-day estimates indicate a community growth rate advantage of 10% as compared to BA.2, however this finding requires further confirmation.
Another new variant of coronavirus initially detected in Finland last month appears to be spreading with reports of more cases found in two more countries. The 'XJ' variant has seen two strains of the virus combine.
It has caused mutations which can allow the disease to spread more easily and more quickly - evading vaccines and immunity or casing more serious disease. But experts say there is no evidence that XJ is more dangerous at this stage.
Omicron XE has recently been detected in the UK with hundreds of cases. Now a new strain is being reported in Europe and Asia,
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