Boris Johnson ended the UK government’s “Plan B” social restrictions for dealing with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in England on 24 February 2022, apparently drawing a line under the lockdown era once and for all.
Trailing the decision in the House of Commons in January, the prime minister said that working from home orders, guidance on mask-wearing in public places and presenting NHS Covid passes to enter crowded venues were all to be scrapped as the New Year rise in infections waned without resulting in the wave of mass hospitalisations feared by experts.
