Gareth welcomes today’s announcement by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, that all Plan B Covid restrictions will be lifted from next week. These changes follow data from the UK Health Security Agency which shows new cases falling by over 38% in the last seven days and hospital admissions also now declining.
From Thursday the 27th of January, work from home guidance will end, as will mandates for mask wearing and event certification. The Prime Minister also announced that restrictions on care-home visits would be eased, with more details to follow shortly.
The Prime Minister made clear that the easing of these restrictions has been made possible by the speed of the Booster rollout and the public response. The UK has again led Europe in this vaccination effort, and is the first to exit the Omicron wave. In getting the tough decisions right, public health has been protected, while our society has remained the most open in the continent, and our economy enjoys the best growth in the G7.
It remains a requirement to isolate following a positive Covid test result, but the Prime Minister stated his intention that this also be removed as soon as possible. The Secretary of State for Health, Sajid Javid, announced earlier this week that the isolation period had been reduced to five full days.
Constituents should continue to self isolate as soon as they register any Covid symptoms, and order a PCR test straight away.
