England is today divided over Boris Johnson’s dramatic easing of Covid curbs yesterday, with schools preparing to defy the Prime Minister by ordering children to continue wearing masks in classrooms while businesses cheer the return of workers to city offices.
Commuters across the country are set to travel to work for the first time since Plan B measures to suppress Omicron were imposed last month.
In a statement to MPs on Wednesday, Mr Johnson announced WFH guidance would be immediately dropped and rules on masks in schools would also be scrapped from today. Other restrictions including compulsory face coverings on public transport and in shops will end next Thursday.
And the legal requirement for people with Covid to isolate will also be allowed to lapse when the regulations expire on March 24, and that date could be brought forward.
The move could help appease Mr Johnson’s Tory critics after a ‘Pork Pie Putsch’ against the PM over the lockdown party scandal melted away last night.
But the country appears to be split over the Government’s latest easing of curbs, with head teachers and parents set to ignore Mr Johnson by asking children to keep wearing masks in schools.
Unions accused the PM of making the decision to try to save his own political career rather than basing it on scientific evidence. They claimed the Conservative Party leader was flouting his ‘duty of care’ to teachers by axing the mandate.
The National Education Union warned against lifting Plan B curbs ‘too quickly’, saying it could lead to ‘more disruption’ for schools. Its joint general secretary Dr Mary Bousted called the removal of masks ‘premature’, adding: ‘Rather than announcements aimed at saving Boris Johnson’s job, (the) Government should be exercising a duty of care to the nation’s pupils and the staff who educate them.’
Britain’s top medics also insisted that scrapping Covid curbs at such pace ‘risks creating a false sense of security’ with the NHS still under pressure.
Schools are preparing to defy the Prime Minister by ordering children to continue wearing masks in classrooms
However, business chiefs hailed yesterday’s WFH announcement, calling it ‘great news for small businesses and city centres that rely on office workers’
In a statement to MPs in the Commons yesterday, Boris Johnson announced WFH guidance would be immediately dropped and rules on masks in schools would also be scrapped from today. Other restrictions including compulsory face coverings on public transport and in shops will end next Thursday
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the British Medical Association council, said: ‘This decision clearly is not guided by the data. When Plan B was introduced in December, there were 7,373 patients in hospital in the UK. The latest data this week shows there are 18,9791.’
He warned that ending mandates on mask-wearing would ‘inevitably increase transmission’ and place the most vulnerable at a higher risk.
And Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation representing health bodies, said now ‘is not the time for complacency about this virus’.
Deputy chief executive of NHS Providers Saffron Cordery said that some trusts had reported they were expecting their peak later this week despite a fall in case numbers nationally due to regional variations in the number of hospital admissions.
‘That's why it's important that there is recognition that this surge isn't over, and that the health service is still operating under extremely challenging circumstances,’ she added.
Meanwhile, Sadiq Khan put himself at odds with the PM by ordering TfL customers to continue wearing masks on London tube and bus services.
He warned: ‘Sadly this is not the end of our fight against the virus. Covid-19 still poses a significant threat to all of us, our livelihoods and our loved ones.
‘Wearing a face covering is one of the single most important and easiest things we can all do to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and the Government should rethink their plans and keep legislation in place to make them mandatory on public transport as well as in shops and indoor public venues.
‘If we have learnt anything from this pandemic, it is that we must not get complacent and undo all our hard work and sacrifices. That's why face coverings will
