Boris pledges to scrap all Covid controls by March

Written by The Daily Mail on January 20, 2022. Posted in Current News

Boris Johnson yesterday announced plans to scrap all Covid restrictions by the spring as he revealed Plan B will also be ditched as the  Omicron wave continued to recede today, with Covid cases, deaths and hospitalisations all down on last week.

The under-fire PM said working from home will end with immediate effect today with the remaining Omicron-fighting measures — Covid passports and compulsory face masks — to be dropped from next Thursday in an attempt to win back the support of Tory MPs and voters following the Partygate row.

He also laid out his intentions to remove all remaining Covid laws by March 24, including basic measures like mandatory self-isolation for positive cases and the requirement to give your address to NHS Test and Trace if you have Covid.

The announcement came as the UK recorded positive Covid tests down 16.6 per cent on last Wednesday, and the 14th day in a row that cases have been down week-on-week.

Fatalities were down 9.8 per cent, and hospitalisations fell 14.5 per cent on Saturday, the latest date data is available for.

While Mr Johnson — who is currently facing enormous pressure to resign over a number of parties in No10 during the brutal first lockdown of 2020 — unveiled the Covid-loosening plans to MPs in the Commons today, it was Health Secretary Sajid Javid who was sent to announce them to the public at a press conference tonight and fend of questions from journalists about his boss’ latest scandal.

Speaking at the podium in Downing Street, Mr Javid declared ‘Omicron is in retreat’ as he hailed the decision to lift Plan B as the start of the ‘next chapter’ in the pandemic.

He said the Government was fulfilling its promise to ‘open up the country as soon as the data supports it’ as he pointed to rapidly collapsing Covid cases and plateauing hospital rates.

He described the relaxation of measures as a ‘major milestone’, adding: ‘But it’s 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.

‘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 this spring.’

Mr Javid said that, starting with immediate effect, No10’s work from home guidance will no longer apply, and face masks will no longer be required in school classrooms in England from tomorrow.

Covid passes and compulsory face masks will be axed from next Thursday.  

The Health Secretary said that testing, vaccines and antivirals will be the ‘cornerstone of our future defences’ when ‘almost all’ restrictions end.

He claimed that the re-opening of the country now when many nations in Europe are still living with draconian lockdown measures was a vindication of the PM’s response to Omicron.

Speaking at a Downing Street news conference, Mr Javid denied Mr Johnson ‘just got lucky’ when he chose not to impose further restrictions over Christmas.

‘The central decision that he made which was to absolutely focus on boosters has been vindicated,’ he said. ‘That is the main reason that we are where we are today because the Prime Minister made those decisions.’

Documents sent between the UK’s health agencies revealed free Covid lateral flow tests will be scrapped from July under the Government’s virus ‘exit strategy’.

See more here: dailymail.co.uk

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