Boris Johnson scraps face masks, vaccine passports and work from home

Boris Johnson has announced the UK’s “Plan B” Covid-19 restrictions will be completely shredded as he hailed “light at the end of the tunnel”.

Boris Johnson has announced the UK’s “Plan B” Covid-19 restrictions will be completely shredded next Wednesday as he hailed “light at the end of the tunnel”.

Hated vaccine passports will be dumped along with requirement to wear face masks anywhere indoors, The Sun reports.

The guidance to work from home has been dropped effective immediately — meaning Brits can go back to the office tomorrow.

The remaining rules will expire on January 26, meaning the changes will kick in on Thursday morning.

“The Cabinet concluded that because of the extraordinary booster campaign, together with the way the public have responded to the Plan B measures, we can return to Plan A in England, and allow Plan B regulations to expire,” the UK Prime Minister said.

Boris Johnson speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). Picture: AFP

In major developments:

• The PM endured a bruising PMQs as a Tory MP defected to Labour

• Masks will be dropped in classrooms tomorrow as revealed by The Sun

• Self-isolation rules should expire on March 24, the PM said

• Mr Johnson said that Omicron has now “peaked nationally”

• BoJo warned boosters will be increasingly needed for international travel

• The PM resisted pressure to scrap mandatory vaccination for NHS staff

Triumphant Mr Johnson hailed the success of the booster campaign that has allowed him to rip up nearly all remaining curbs.

Mr Johnson also felt vindicated for resisting doomster calls to impose tougher measures as Omicron surged over Christmas.

“Many nations across Europe have endured further winter lockdowns,” the PM told MPs.

“While we must continue to remain cautious, the data are showing that time and again, this government, got the toughest decisions, right.”

He pointed to falling Covid-19 cases as experts grow increasingly confident the country is over the hump of Omicron.

While “significant pressures on the NHS” persist, the PM said hospitalisations have now stabilised and are even falling in London.

But embattled Mr Johnson is also widely seen as dropping Plan B to soothe lockdown-hating rebels threatening to blow apart his premiership.

Yet the PM denied this and in rallying cry cheered, “Confronted by the nation’s biggest challenge since the Second World War and the worst pandemic since 1918, any government would get some things wrong. But this government got the big things right.”

Face masks will no longer be mandatory anywhere. Picture: Tolga Akmen/AFP

New rules

From Thursday morning face masks will no longer be legally required anywhere in the country.

Brits will still be urged to wear masks in crowded places, but will not be fined for refusing to do so.

At the same time Covid-19 passports will be axed but similarly big venues can choose to use them if wanted.

Guidance to work from home will be dropped, with workers expected to go back to their offices.

The only remaining rule will be the requirement to self-isolate for five days after testing positive for Covid-19, which Mr Johnson also wants to drop in March.

Yesterday, the UK’s daily Covid-19 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 1000.

This fits with the pattern of a Covid-19 wave, however, a few weeks on from high cases, some extra deaths will now sadly catch up for those harder hit with the virus.

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.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission