Boris Johnson ‘set to lift Plan B restrictions’ as Omicron infections fall

Boris Johnson is set to lift Plan B restrictions in the next few weeks, it has been reported.

The Prime Minister announced so-called Plan B restrictions to slow the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in December.

The measures include work from home guidance, face masks in crowded indoor settings and mandatory vaccine passports for large venues.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Covid passports and work from home guidance for England will be lifted from January 26.

However, the paper adds that some rules on face masks are likely to remain.

“There frankly doesn’t seem to be any other expectation at the moment,” a source told the paper on ending restrictions on January 26.

It has also been reported that rules on masks in secondary schools could be dropped before January 26.

A source told The Sun: “They are not linked to Plan B, so it could happen sooner than lifting Plan B. It’s not going to be later.”

It comes as Covid infections in the UK fell below six figures on Friday for the first time in six weeks.

A further 99,652 cases were recorded along with 270 deaths in the latest 24-hour period.

The R – reproduction - number in England stands at between 1.1 and 1.5.

Separate data from the Office for National Statistics revealed that Omicron now makes up 94 per cent of all infections after it rapidly overtook Delta as the dominant variant.