Work from home advice ends and face coverings no longer mandatory in classrooms in England

Work from home measures have been scrapped and face coverings will no longer need to be worn in classrooms in England from today.

Commuters are set to travel to work for the first time since Plan B measures were introduced to slow the spread of Omicron.

Boris Johnson told MPs in the House of Commons that people would not be told to work from home “from now on” while the rules around face coverings in classrooms would be scrapped from Thursday.

What else is changing?

The requirement to wear face masks on public transport and in shops will end next Thursday.

The Prime Minister also confirmed the intention to end self-isolation rules for people who catch coronavirus in the coming weeks. The legal requirement would lapse when regulations expire on 24 March, he said, but said the date could be brought forwards.

Mr Johnson said it was time to “trust the judgement” of the public on the use of masks in enclosed and crowded places after he said Omicron cases were falling and the wave had likely peaked nationally.

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He said restrictions on visits to care homes will also be eased, with Health Secretary Sajid Javid setting out plans “in the coming days”.

The move may appease Mr Johnson’s Tory critics as he faces increasing pressure over Downing Street parties.

What does the data say?

COVID infection levels have fallen in most parts of the UK for the first time since early December, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

One in 20 people in private households in England are estimated to have contracted the virus in the week up to 15 January – around three million people.

The highest number of new cases reported on a single day during the current wave was 218,724 on 4 January, with another 108,069 lab-confirmed cases recorded in the UK as of 9am on Wednesday, suggesting the peak may have passed.

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Is COVID becoming endemic?

Mr Johnson suggested he would start treating COVID more like the flu, saying: “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.”

He said the government would set out its long-term strategy for “living with COVID”.

Decision ‘not guided by data’

However, senior medics have criticised the decision and said it is “not guided by data”.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) council, said scrapping the measures at such a fast pace “risks creating a false sense of security” while the NHS is still under crippling pressure.

“This decision clearly is not guided by the data,” he said.

“When Plan B was introduced in December, there were 7,373 patients in hospital in the UK. The latest data this week shows there are 18,9791.”

Dr Nagpaul went on to warn that ending mandates on mask-wearing would “inevitably increase transmission” and place the most vulnerable at a higher risk.

Health service ‘operating under extremely challenging circumstances’

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation representing health bodies, cautioned that now “is not the time for complacency about this virus”.

Meanwhile, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers Saffron Cordery said some trusts have reported they are expecting their peak later this week.

“That’s why it’s important that there is recognition that this surge isn’t over, and that the health service is still operating under extremely challenging circumstances,” she added.

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