COVID: Sajid Javid says COVID could be with us forever but hopes all measures lifted by March

The health secretary has said COVID could be with us forever but he hopes all restrictions can be lifted by March.

Sajid Javid added that we "may well" need an annual coronavirus vaccination, the day after the government announced working from home advice had ended and Plan B restrictions would be lifted next Thursday.

He told Kay Burley on Sky News: "COVID is not going away, it's going to be with us for many, many years - perhaps forever, and we have to learn to live with it."

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Asked if he meant to compare the virus with flu during last night's Downing Street news conference, he said: "Yes, because it was an example of how we need to learn to live with COVID."

He continued: "Sadly, people die of flu as well. In a bad flu year you can sadly lose about 20,000 lives - but we don't shut down our entire country and put in place lots of restrictions to deal with it.

"We need to continue with our lives with sensible, appropriate and proportionate measures."

Read more: Will the gamble pay off? Plan B rules to end in England - but is it too soon?

What are the new rules in England?

Work from home guidance has been dropped and rules on face masks in schools have been scrapped.

COVID passports and the requirement to wear face-coverings on public transport and in shops will end next Thursday.

Mr Javid said England was returning to Plan A because "Plan B has worked" - largely due to the COVID-19 vaccine booster programme.

"I think we are leading Europe in the transition from pandemic to endemic and we are showing the world how you can live with COVID," he said.

When will self-isolation rules end?

He also confirmed the government's intention to end self-isolation rules for people with coronavirus in the coming weeks.

Asked about the justification for ending the legal requirement against WHO guidance during a pandemic, Mr Javid said all rules remained under review.

The rule is due to go when coronavirus regulations expire on 24 March, or perhaps earlier as suggested by Boris Johnson during his announcement on the lifting of restrictions yesterday.

The health secretary said a decision would be made closer to the date "based on the data at the time".

Has Omicron peaked?

"Omicron is now in retreat... but we do still have to remain cautious, prevalence is still high," said Mr Javid.

He said people would have to make their own minds about wearing face masks and what precautions to take when legal requirements come to an end.

"Will I be wearing a face mask? Yeah, I think I probably would be in a week's time," he told BBC Breakfast, in reference to going shopping.

"Especially if I am going to my local shop which is small and enclosed and can have quite a few people in there at one time in quite a small space, I don't know most of those people, I think that would be sensible.

"I think it will be sensible on the tube in London, for example - quite an enclosed space. People will be asked to make their own personal judgment just as we do in fighting flu."

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Scrapping of rules 'premature'

Senior medics and teachers have criticised the decision to ditch Plan B restictions as "premature" and "not guided by data".

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, council chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA), said the move "risks creating a false sense of security" with the NHS still under crippling pressure - and warned ending the mandate on mask-wearing would "inevitably increase transmission" and place the most vulnerable at a higher risk.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation representing health bodies, said now "is not the time for complacency about this virus".

Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teachers' union, said: "If you're going to look for the greater of lesser evil, it is a much greater evil for pupils to have more school because they have caught COVID and they have to isolate than it is to wear a mask, so I think while we all want mask-wearing to be over when it is safe, this is premature".