All Plan B restrictions to end in England
pharmafile | January 20, 2022 | News story | Business Services |
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that England’s Plan B measures are to end from 26 January. This will include the end of mandatory face coverings in public places, and COVID-19 passports, both dropped. Mandatory isolation for anyone infected with COVID-19 will also end on 24 March.
Compulsory face masks on public transport and in shops, guidance to work from home, and vaccine certificates, will all be dropped. The legal requirement of people with coronavirus to self-isolate will come to an end in March. Johnson stated further that this date could be brought forward. The Prime Minister also announced an immediate end to the need for pupils to wear face masks at secondary schools.
The statement has prompted concern from teaching and health unions, alongside NHS and public health representatives. Johnson cited booster vaccinations in support of the reversion to Plan A measures. Also citing the latest infection study by the Office for National Statistics, Johnson stated that its data revealed the Omicron wave had peaked nationally and that infection levels were falling in England.
Johnson did share, however, an expectation for cases to continue rising in primary schools.
“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 criminalise anyone who chooses not to wear one,” the Prime Minister said.
Christina McAnea, the general secretary of Unison, which is the UK’s largest health union, stated: “Rather than allowing a free-for-all, ministers should be urging caution and encouraging continued mask-wearing on transport, in public places and in schools, where it can still make a real difference.”
The changes introduced only apply to England, as COVID-19 restrictions are a devolved issue.
Ana Ovey
