LondonThe UK government said that most Covid restrictions, including mandatory wearing of masks, were lifted on Thursday, as the start of a campaign to give ‘booster dose’ increased the severity of the disease and COVID. The number of people being admitted to the hospital due to COVID-19 has been successfully reduced.
Masks are no longer legally binding anywhere in England as of Thursday, and the legal requirement for a Covid pass to enter nightclubs and other large venues has also been abolished. The government last week withdrew its guidelines on wearing masks in classrooms along with advising people to work from home.
The so-called “Plan B” measure was launched in early December as part of an effort to reduce the outbreak of the pandemic by increasing pressure on health services due to the oomicron nature of the coronavirus and receiving booster doses of the vaccine. Health Minister Sajid Javid said the government’s launch of a vaccination campaign, screening and antiviral treatment are among “some of the strongest defenses in Europe” to help return to normalcy.
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He said, “We have learned to live with COVID, but we need to be clear that this virus has not gone away from us. The cases of infection continue to decrease, but according to health officials, Omicron is present across the country, especially children and the elderly are affected. Officials said around 84 per cent of people over the age of 12 in the UK have received a second dose of the vaccine and of those who are eligible, 81 per cent have taken their booster dose.
The number of cases of hospitalizations and people in ICU has stabilized or decreased and around the beginning of the new year, where daily cases were coming in more than 2,00,000 in a day, compared to recent days. These have come down to less than 1,00,000 in the current year. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last week that the increase in infections from Omicron was “now at a national peak”.
The government has eased legal measures, but some shopkeepers and public transport operators say they will continue to ask people to wear face masks. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that it would still be necessary to wear masks in the capital’s buses and metro trains. It remains legal for infected people to stay in isolation for a full five days, but Johnson said that rule would soon end.
Health officials have said they are working out a long-term post-pandemic strategy to treat COVID-19 like the normal flu. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which make their own public health rules, have similarly relaxed their virus restrictions.