Boris Johnson scraps England’s COVID-19 restrictions

The Prime Minister of UK, Boris Johnson, has scrapped all COVID-19 restrictions, including the much hated vaccine passports as well as requirement to wear face masks anywhere indoors.

Similarly, the guidance to work from home has been dropped effective immediately – meaning Brits can go back to the office tomorrow.

He said: “From tomorrow, we will no longer require face masks in classrooms and the Department for Education will shortly remove national guidance on their use in communal areas.

“In the country at large we will continue to suggest the use of face coverings in enclosed or crowded spaces, particularly when you come into contact with people you don’t normally meet – but we will trust the judgment of the British people and no longer criminalize anyone who chooses not to wear one.”

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People will also no longer need to wear masks in shops and on public transport when the regulations expire.

And from today, the Government is no longer asking people to work from home, Mr. Johnson said.

Face masks will no longer be needed in school classrooms from this Thursday (January 19) and advice for them to be worn in communal areas will be removed “shortly” by the Department for Education.

He pointed to falling COVID cases falling as experts grow increasingly confident the country is over the hump of Omicron.

The only remaining rule will be the requirement to self-isolate for five days after testing positive for Covid, which Mr Johnson also wants to drop in March.

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Yesterday, the UK’s daily Covid cases dropped 21 per cent on last week. There were 94,432 new cases in the past 24 hours, with 438 fatalities also recorded.

Deaths have risen compared to the past few days, but are still not near the levels seen in the Alpha peak last year of over 1,000.

This time last week there had been 120,821 new daily cases recorded, as the country shows promising signs of the variant wave having peaked.