The Health Secretary said he would not go into the office if he knew he had Covid.

Speaking to Good Morning Britain, he said: “We had sick pay in place long before we had Covid, and we are learning as a country to live with Covid as we live with other infectious diseases like flu or others.

“And now, because we got the vaccine, the impact of Covid in terms of keeping people out of hospitals and saving their lives is a lot less than when we first discovered it.

“So when it comes to someone that may be having to take time off work or socialising less because they believe they might be positive, that is handled in the same way that all other infectious diseases are handled.”

When asked: “So effectively … we’re putting Covid into the same category as the other infectious diseases?”, Mr Javid replied: “That’s right.”

The changes to free Covid testing comes with infections among the over-70s at their highest recorded levels.

Office for National Statistics data released last week found that around one in 23 over-70s currently has the virus – the highest level since the infection survey began in 2020.

NHS England is now inviting those aged 75 and over and the vulnerable to book their spring Covid booster after calls to speed up the rollout due to the rising infections.

Mr Javid said 11,500 people in English hospitals have Covid but the majority had not been admitted because of the virus. The NHS “estimates almost 60 per cent are not there because of Covid – they are there for something else,” he told Times Radio.