Boris Johnson is expected to announce this afternoon that he is lifting Plan B coronavirus restrictions in England as the Prime Minister steps up the fight for his political life.
The PM is meeting with his Cabinet this morning to finalise his decision before delivering a statement in the House of Commons, with work from home guidance and Covid passes due to be axed from January 26.
However, it is thought the Government will continue to tell people to wear face masks in certain settings, like on public transport.
It is currently unclear whether the wearing of face masks will remain a legal requirement or if it will only be guidance.
The announcement will be the latest move as part of ‘Operation Red Meat’ – a policy blitz cooked up by Number 10 in a bid to win back the support of Tory MPs and voters following the Partygate row.
The Prime Minister is meeting with his Cabinet this morning to finalise his decision, with work from home guidance and Covid passes due to be axed from January 26
Lord Frost, the former Brexit minister who quit the Cabinet in December over the imposition of Plan B, today welcomed the lifting of Plan B curbs but said the ‘job isn’t done if mask wearing remains in place’
Mr Johnson rolled out his Plan B curbs across England in December to combat the spread of the Omicron variant.
The regulations underpinning the Plan B restrictions are due to expire on January 26 and the Government committed to reviewing them ahead of that date.
Increasingly positive data means ministers are now confident they can lift work from home guidance and axe the use of Covid passes at large venues.
However, the expected move to retain face mask rules is likely to spark a Tory backlash.
Lord Frost, the former Brexit minister who quit the Cabinet in December over the imposition of Plan B, tweeted this morning: ‘It is good news if the Cabinet does decide this morning to lift some “Plan B” restrictions.
‘But the job isn’t done if mask wearing remains in place. The evidence for masks is weak & the many downsides are persistently discounted. All Plan B measures need lifting *for good*.’
A Government spokesman said: ‘Decisions on the next steps remain finely balanced.
‘Plan B was implemented in December to slow the rapid spread of the extremely transmissible Omicron variant, and get more jabs in arms.
‘It’s thanks to the phenomenal efforts of the NHS and many dedicated volunteers that we have now delivered over 36 million boosters to people across the UK.
‘The Omicron variant continues to pose a significant threat and the pandemic is not over.
‘Infections remain high but the latest data is encouraging, with cases beginning to fall.
‘Vaccines remain our best line of defence and we urge people to come forward, to give themselves the best possible protection.’
The Government is now turning its attention to coming up with a long-term strategy for living with the disease.
The Times reported that this is likely to mean local Covid testing centres starting to shut down in the spring.
The Treasury believes the estimated £10billion a year cost of the testing operation is not sustainable and wants it to be reduced.
It is thought the long-term coronavirus strategy could be unveiled by the Government by the end of February.
It is likely to include the end of free lateral flow tests and changes to self-isolation rules for people who test positive.
A Government source told The Times: ‘The wind-down will be quite swift and will mean fewer test centres because we don’t need all of the sites.’
Official Government data showed there were a further 94,432 Covid cases recorded in the UK yesterday while a further 438 people had died within 28 days of testing positive.
A total of 19,450 people were in hospital in the UK with Covid-19 as of January 17.
This is down two per cent week-on-week – though the total had risen slightly in the most recent two days.
During the second wave of coronavirus, the number of hospital patients peaked at 39,254 on January 18, 2021.
There were 1,892 Covid-19 hospital admissions on January 14, the latest UK-wide figure available, down five per cent week-on-week.
Admissions during the second wave peaked at 4,583 on January 12 2021.
Lifting the Plan B restrictions is part of a Downing Street policy blitz, dubbed ‘Operation Red Meat’, designed to stabilise the PM’s premiership after the Partygate row.
Other crowd-pleasing policies have already been announced, including bringing in the military to tackle the migrant Channel crossings crisis and freezing the BBC licence fee for two years.
Source: Daily Mail
