Back to the office as curbs are axed
Boris sets the country free ++ WFH is over ++ No masks from next week ++ Self-isolation to end in spring
Boris Johnson set the nation free last night as he responded to plummeting omicron rates by announcing his intention to banish almost all remaining Covid restrictions.
in an upbeat statement, the Prime Minister told MPs all Plan B curbs would be gone within days, with the remaining legal measures – such as self-isolation – set to be scrapped in the spring.
Mr Johnson told the Commons that, with immediate effect, people would no longer be told to work from home. He also said that from today, pupils will no longer have to wear masks in classrooms.
The remaining Plan B restrictions will end from next Thursday. From then it will not be against the law to go in shops or on public transport without a mask.
And from the same date, vaccine passports won’t be required in nightclubs and large venues. But other regulations could also end within weeks. The Prime Minister pledged
‘Look ahead to a promising year’
the requirement for people to isolate with Covid would be scrapped in March – and could be ended much earlier.
He said it was time to start thinking of a world where we ‘start treating Covid-19 more like flu’. The announcement was welcomed with cheers of delight by Tory backbenchers, at a time when Mr Johnson’s leadership has been under threat over the so-called ‘partygate’ revelations.
Business leaders welcomed the news, with theatre owners saying they can now ‘look ahead to a promising year’.
The announcement represents a vindication of the Government’s decision not to impose severe restrictions over Christmas – in contrast to the situation in scotland, Wales and Northern ireland.
The Prime Minister told the Commons that more than 90 per cent of over-60s across the UK have now had booster vaccines to protect them, and scientists believed the omicron wave has peaked.
Plan B measures were only approved for a limited period by Parliament and they will automatically lapse next Thursday.
Mr Johnson said Cabinet ministers meeting yesterday morning had agreed not to ask for an extension of the curbs – and said some will finish early.
He told MPs: ‘There will soon come a time when we can remove the legal requirement to self-isolate altogether, just as we don’t place legal obligations on people to isolate if they have flu. As Covid becomes endemic, we will need to replace legal requirements with advice and guidance, urging people with the virus to be careful and considerate of others.’
At a press conference in Downing street yesterday, Health secretary sajid Javid said government action had ‘worked’, but he cautioned this is ‘not the end of the road and we shouldn’t see this as the finish line because we cannot eradicate this virus and its future variants’.
He added: ‘instead we must learn to live with Covid in the same way we have to live with flu, and we will be setting out our long-term plan for living with Covid-19 this spring.’
The decision comes after infection levels fell in most parts of the UK for the first time since early December, according to the office for National statistics. Mr Johnson said this data showed that while there are some places where cases are likely to continue rising, including in primary schools, ‘our scientists believe it is likely the omicron wave has now peaked nationally’. on the use of face masks, Mr Johnson said: ‘We will trust the judgment of the British people and no longer criminalise anyone who chooses not to wear one.’
The Prime Minister also demanded civil servants get back to the office and set an example. Tory backbencher David Johnston welcomed the decision to end official work from home advice and asked Mr Johnson to ‘actively encourage people to do so’. Mr Johnson said he agreed – before volunteering that he wanted government officials to set an example.
Discussing the easing of restrictions, robert Dingwall, professor of sociology at Nottingham Trent University, said: ‘Clearly, it will take some time to bring down the levels of fear generated, both by accident and design, over the last two years.
‘These announcements are not the end of the pandemic agenda but they do signal the end of the state of exception and elite panic.’
Matthew Fell, the CBi’s chief policy director, said: ‘it’s great news that Plan B is coming to an end and businesses will be hopeful we are finally starting to turn the corner on Covid.’ Mike Hobday from the National Deaf Children’s society said: ‘This will be a huge relief to England’s 45,000 deaf children who tell us face masks have left them struggling to learn and left out of conversations with their friends.’
But Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teachers’ union, said the move was ‘premature’, describing mask-wearing as a ‘lesser evil’ than children getting Covid and missing school.
And Pat Cullen, general secretary of the royal College of Nursing, said: ‘The Prime Minister’s decision to loosen restrictions may have relieved pressure from his backbenchers but will do nothing to relieve pressure on the NHs.’
‘Bring down the levels of fear’