'The right thing to do': WHO urges Brits to keep wearing masks and social distance

Watch: 'The right thing to do' - WHO urges Brits to keep wearing masks and social distance

Brits have been urged to keep on wearing face masks in public places and social distance as England looks to drop all legal restrictions by the end of the month.

While the government is keen to move to a point where citizens live with the virus, the message from the World Health Organization (WHO) still urges caution.

Northern Ireland has already dropped legal restrictions for those within its borders, and Boris Johnson announced earlier this month that legal rules in England are expected to be scrapped ahead of schedule.

Rates of COVID-19 have increased substantially this year, with a third of reported cases being reported in 2022.

Dr David Nabarro, WHO special envoy for COVID, told Sky News that now would not be the time to drop restrictions to avoid giving the virus a "free ticket".

Read more: All domestic COVID laws could be scrapped by end of February, Boris Johnson announces

He said "It is absolutely not a good idea when cases are as high as they are, when the virus is moving as rapidly as it is, for the restrictions that we've all applied so carefully to be dropped.

"Please, continue wearing face masks, continue physical distancing - it's the right thing to do.

"Whatever you hear from other sources, the World Health Organization asks everyone to maintain the caution because the virus is moving around a lot at the moment. You don't want to give the virus a free ticket right now. There is too much virus around to let go."

But not all UK nations are getting it wrong, he added, pointing to Wales' decision to start offering COVID jabs to the over-5s.

Scotland announced it would be doing the same on Wednesday.

"My own view is, now we know that vaccines can provide protection against long COVID, there is a growing case for immunising children," said Dr Nabarro.

"From my point of view, that is the direction to go in."

Wales’ health minister Eluned Morgan said she had read the “yet to be published” report by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and would be further rolling out the jab.

Watch: What is a Rapid Lateral Flow Test?

There are reports the JCVI announcement of its decision on whether to expand the immunisation programme to younger children has been delayed due to a disagreement with the UK Government.

It also comes amid reports that the government is set to announce an end to free COVID tests and £500 payments people on low incomes who need to isolate.

The Department for Health on Tuesday said that no final decisions had been made, but the government’s Autumn and Winter Plan set out plans to end the “universal” provision of lateral flow tests.

The UK saw its highest ever daily case rate on 4 January, with 218,724 positive cases being confirmed in just 24 hours.

While case rates have come down, numbers are still remaining stubbornly high.

COVID-19 cases in England currently average just under 64,000 a day, the lowest since mid-December, though this only includes people who have reported a positive test result and does not reflect the prevalence of the virus across the whole population.

There were 11,471 patients in hospital in England with COVID-19 on 8 February, NHS figures show.

This is down 11% on the previous week but still higher than levels before Christmas.

However, just 385 patients were in mechanical ventilator beds, the lowest number since last July.