Plan B covid measures to end next week

PM Boris Johnson

Plan B measures brought in to slow the spread of Omicron will not be renewed after they expire on January 26.

From Thursday, January 27 there will no longer be mandatory Covid passes in England, although businesses can use them if they want to.

Face masks will no longer be mandatory although guidance will ask people to consider them in crowded places and the work from home guidance will end.

Restrictions on visits to care homes will also be eased.

From tomorrow face masks in classrooms will no longer be required.

There will still be a legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive for Covid although this is reduced from Monday (January 24) to five days if you have two negative tests.

The PM told Parliament today (January 19) that self isolation rules expire on March 24 and he does not expect them to be renewed and if data allows may even call for a vote to bring that date forward.

The PM said we must all remain cautious over the last weeks of winter but said data showed the Omicron wave has now peaked with hospital admissions stabilised and  intensive care admissions falling.

He said the booster campaign meant England can return to Plan A from next Thursday and it was now time to ‘trust the judgement of the British public.’

In a statement to Parliament, the PM said: “Today’s latest ONS data show clearly that infection levels are falling in England. And while there are some places where cases are likely to continue rising, including in primary schools – our scientists believe it is likely that the Omicron wave has now peaked nationally.

“There remain, of course, significant pressures on the NHS across our country, and especially in the North East and North West.

But hospital admissions -which were doubling every 9 days just two weeks ago – have now stabilised, with admissions in London even falling. And the numbers in intensive care not only remain low but are actually also falling.

“So this 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.”

62 Comments

  1. “Plan A from next Thursday and it was now time to ‘trust the judgement of the British public.’”

    In other words no one cares very much for anything this idiot has to say any more regardless of its source.
    And of course if it’s down to us then he can’t be to blame

  2. Well i think anyone who got fined for breaking the rules should be refunded after all a beach with a few beers is much larger than a garden with bottles of wine.
    And one can buy beer and just carry it down for all to see not hide it in a suitcase.

  3. Yeah because it was safer with hundreds of strangers in close proximity then a few work colleagues who are known to each other!

    There are too many hypocrites moaning about them doing what exactly 75% of the country is/was doing!

    Yes it was wrong for them but two wrongs dont make a right!

    If people put as much effort into working together than bitching about each other then the country would be a little bit better.

    • You do realise this is the Government who we are supposed to have our best interests, who cant even follow their own rules, regardless of being work colleges in a garden it is as you put it hypercritical.. so why should they get away with it!

      • Well said Steve! They set the rules to which a lot of citizens were rightly fined for so the government should set an example!

    • Yes and most of the population were doing much more wrong than they did in the garden social distancing. We read about the packed beaches, parks and shops all through lockdowns, then Parties in peoples homes and gardens too. I am no lover of Blojo and the Tories but people need to stop going on about him as if they have nothing to hide themselves. Not many people were locked down, mainly just the older generation doing as they were told. Roger Gale has enough misdemeanors of his own to worry about without backstabbing his own party all over the media, the hypocrite!!

      • People should carry on holding him to account over his actions, yes i saw the news reports of crowded beaches etc, you wouldnt catch me on one of them pre covid, point is , he hold a seat of authority and its his bunch of goons making the rules, how is anyone supposed to have faith in someone who cant be arsed to live by his own rules..

        • Its important to remember anyone in authority should set an example, Johnson is an arrogant chancer, who has always acted as if the rules/law don’t apply to him!

    • This is either a very sexist comment that objectifies individuals, or if said tounge in cheek, a very poor comment that people who work in shops are fair game for being abused by ignorant people who have a superiority complex over others who they see as beneath them. Why not try smiling and being pleasant in shops, restaurants.. it may surprise you that people smile back. Or do you only smile if they buy your books. Peter and Paul.. this type of humour went out with the Benny Hill Show.

      • Who says I’m not smiley and pleasant in shops and restaurants? You’ve obviously never met me. But my original point is (made slightly tongue in cheek) is that I like to see someone’s mouth as well as their eyes when chatting to them.

        Unless they’re ugly.

      • Lighten up, not every comment is loaded with aspic and malevolent intent. Have you ever considered that people enjoy seeing attractive people purely for the enjoyment of taking in what nature has created and the person in question has enhanced with their choice of clothes/styling.

      • Northdown Parrots

        On the other hand, he could have said that some people were only wearing masks, because they are so ugly.

        I imagine that would also have caused you to complain.

  4. I thought it was a great comment on Sunday morning. When the mp stated. You can only meet 1 person outside. He left the building and 9 minutes later they started a party in the garden at no 10. Made me chuckle that did.

  5. “Plan B covid measures to end next week”.
    Probably a big mistake.
    Although confirmed cases are going down, they are still 500 per million more than this time last year, and deaths are sharply rising.
    It would have been prudent to hang on to the limited protections in place (mask wearing, social distancing) until the end of the month, just to be certain we’re on the right track.
    But Boris has got to deflect us from his appalling behaviour somehow. So it’s sweeties for the peasants.

      • There are no “restrictions”. The measures are “protections”, to provide safe space for us as individuals and the wider community.
        5 days will make a huge difference, if you’re talking about exponentially growth (or hopefully in this case, decay). 5 days could see infection dropping to less than a thirtieth of what it is now.
        A depressing feature of this whole pandemic has been that life-critical decisions have been made by people who really don’t understand the science.

    • But back in the real world, as I’ve pointed out many times before, the UK has suffered disproportionately ,from both covid and the measures put in place, largely as a result of the nation being so fat and unfit. No one can claim they don’t know the downsides of being overweight and sedentary, covid just came along and handed out lots of Darwin awards. To stop the bleating and protect the hordesof those likely to collect said award , we’ve crippled the country with debt and stalled the economy. But rather than look at the big picture , it seems we’re going to fixate on parties at No.10 whilst gorging on fast food and fizzy pop.
      You really do have to wonder at the nations mindset.

      • ” No one can claim they don’t know the downsides of being overweight and sedentary, covid just came along and handed out lots of Darwin awards”

        Bit of a judgemental type. perfect n every way are we? do you understand how people can become unfit, over weight or is everyone who has issues through no fault of their own not worthy of showing some common courtesy..

        • Not at aall, my weight is at the top end of the healthy scale and probably half the time the wrong side, i’m not as fit as i used to be and perhaps should be. But like the vast majority of those in this country who are overweight and unfit its purely down to my lifestyle choices , self discipline and acceptance of the possible downsides.
          There are very few who have no control over their weight and fitness, these people have the health service to help them , it’d be able to do far more for them if it were not burdened by the masses who have no care for their situation. Or are you suggesting that 60% plus of UK adults are in the condition they are for perfectly justifiable reasons? 5% i’d accept at a push.
          The rate of change in my lifetime is beyond comprehension especially given the increases in health care provision ( and its many advances ) and the wealth of the nation.
          However you miss the crux of my viewpoint, covid has affected fat unfit countries ( be they that for whatever reason) disproportionately, as such surely the discussion should not be limited to covid.

          • it’s your lack of apathy towards other humans that bothers me, i dont exercise other than a dog walk everyday, im at home most the time caring for my partner and i smoke, cant say i don’t like bacon etc. but my wight is fine, just lack any motivation to get fit.. doesn’t mean this is something people can use against me or others to the state of the covid situation.. Darwin awards was a nice touch..

          • I have empathy for those who truly have no control over their situation , very very little for those that do have control. However i should probably expand on the fitness aspect, if you can do a brisk walk with your dog, can climb a couple of flights of stairs without getting out of breath and go through life without feeling as though you’re overdoing it, then thats probably fit enough, i’m not talking about being an athlete.
            You say you smoke ( there’s a huge difference between 5 or 60 a day) you no doubt know the associated risks and have chosen to accept them. As does anyone that drinks.
            Take my viewpoint anyway you wish, but it’s primarily one of contrasting the comments about covid measures and the demands for zero risk, similarly i’ve no issue with any individual rather the state of society in general.

        • Those of us who are overweight can’t do much about it over the next few weeks.
          But until it’s really clear that the covid threat has retreated, we can carry on taking sensible precautions, such as those recommended by Dr Susan Hopkins.

          • Those who are overweight have had way longer than a few weeks to do something about it, they’ve just chosen not to, conflation of issues to justify such choices is disingenuous.

    • Andrew: Completely no justifications to continue with any restrictions to our freedom, or harm to our children, or damage to small businesses or destruction of people’s mental health. Office for National Statistics – deaths from covid with no underlying causes:
      2020: 9400 (0-64: 1549 / 65 and over: 7851)

      2021 Q1: 6483 (0-64: 1560/ 65 and over: 4923)

      2021 Q2: 346 (0-64: 153/ 65 and over: 193)

      2021 Q3: 1142 (0-64: 512/ 65 and over: 630)

      Less than a bad flu year. Shamelessly misrepresented by the modellers, many public health officials and politicians of all parties and the bought mainstream media. This information was only provided after a freedom of information request.

  6. Agree two wrongs don’t make a right. A simple question from me would be how does anyone know they are breaking the rules when the rulemaker clearly does not he has to get it investigated so is he fit to run our country.
    Most are aware of the current situation , if we go to a crowded place be it a shop beach or park we know the risks we are taking we could catch covid spread it and at worst people including our family member could die.
    Their will always be a few who just don’t care , same could be said about the speeding motorist , the drunken driver or the one high on drugs who all think it be ok.
    Simple question to me.

    • A question mark would have helped people to decide that you were asking a question rather than stating an opinion.
      As to your query, people aren’t that daft, they know when they are doing right or wrong or on the blurred borders. Just as Boris and his colleagues did, they made their choices as did the rest of the nation , all on the back of guidelines and legislation that was ignored wholesale across the nation.
      Boris has been caught out and will be judged by the court of public opinion. It’s a pity we can’t do the same for those recently convicted of abhorrent child abuse / murder. Which truly are real crimes.
      All the self serving faux outrage is rather pathetic.

        • The intricacies of who knew what, about what had been arranged by whom on what basis, the position of someone unaware of the realities of the situation and who’d made their own assumptions. Just a politician doing what they do best, attempting to sow the seeds of doubt in the hope of growing a tree of forgiveness.
          A bit like the criminal caught redhanded on cctv in front of witnesses continually denying their involvement just in case theirs a procedural error in their prosecution.

        • The alternative would be for him to admit he’d broken the law and lied to Parliament, then resign.
          By obfuscation, he can try and put off having to face up to what he did.

  7. When the rules lapse in March, does that mean that if you phone a GP surgery at 8am, they will actually answer the phone?

  8. What a confusing world we live in.

    We now have a Prince, that can’t be a Prince.

    A tennis player, that can’t play tennis.

    A prime minister, the leader of a party, that doesn’t know when a party is a party.

  9. We have a Prince who says he was at a pizza party, when he wasn’t, and we have a prime minister, who was at a party, but says he wasn’t.

    It’s great to feel proud of our leaders, always being honest and doing the right thing.

    • I’m sure by now that we’ve all seen the cartoon depicting a Samaritans call handles a phone in each hand ,

      “ I’m sorry Boris , I’ve got Andrew on the other line , could you call back later.”

      English humour at its cutting best.

          • Trust me LC, he doesn’t sweat, but he does appear at Pizza Express parties, and nobody even noticed he was there. But, you never know, it could be those false memories playing tricks again.

  10. I have bits of paper here as confused myself should i go to the shop , should i cross the road am i doing something wrong, will i get caught , think i go to bed if that’s legal.

  11. I still say nhs staff should be banned from taking fag breaks in the entrances to the hospital.Most of them are in uniforms they then wear when they return to work

    • the designated smoking areas or from what ive seen the nurses going off the gorunds involve wasting a lot of time walking there and back, so they get no real break, when ive been in hospital i ignore the no smoking in the grounds and pop out from for a quick one, what has this got to do with relaxing the covid rules?

      • So Steve, you won’t have what are in your words “experimental” vaccines, yet you smoke cigarettes, something that has been scientifically proven over many decades to be extremely harmful?

        You remind me of a stoner friend I knew who would occasionally snort coke yet wouldn’t drink coca cola because of the chemicals!

        • I have had all three jabs, i have tried giving up smoking by the way on more than one occasion, i vaped for 5 years and then went back to rolling my own, and have stopped since, its staying off thats the struggle..
          And where did i say i wont have an experimental vaccine? i clearly did not say this. My point is NHS staff are run ragged and if they get 5 mins to have s sly ciggy then they wont be wanting to go far form the hospital due to time constraints,the ward sister when i had my last surgery basically hid by the bins out the back of the ward via the staff area

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