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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar and Chiara Giordano

Covid news: Commuters head back to work as NHS staff absences fall in every region of England

Victoria Jones/PA
Commuters head back to work after Covid Plan B restrictions scrapped

Work-from-home advice and rules on face coverings in classrooms have ended after Plan B measures to curb the spread of Omicron were axed.

Other measures including the mandatory use of face masks on public transport and in shops and the NHS Covid pass will also end next Thursday.

The government hopes to see the legal requirement for people with coronavirus to self-isolate scrapped when regulations expire on 24 March.

Health secretary Sajid Javid said we must “learn to live with” Covid – but also urged caution.

He told 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.

“We do still need of course to remain cautious; prevalence remains high.”

Asked whether self-isolation rules would be scrapped in March, he added: “We are not there yet –that’s a few weeks away.

“We’ve said we would review those rules and we would like to see it scrapped by the end of March but that decision will be made closer to the time.”

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