Covid: Plan B measures lifted in England, despite health leaders’ warnings

All Plan B Covid restrictions in England have ended as of today, despite health leaders’ warnings the NHS is still under ‘intense pressure’.

The number of cases today is almost twice as high as when those restrictions were introduced in December.

But the government says the success of the vaccine rollout and stable hospital admissions mean restrictions like working from home and face masks are no longer necessary, and from Monday limits on care home visitors will come to an end too.

The latest daily government figures show 96,871 new cases have been reported, more than 1,600 people have been admitted to hospital with Covid and 338 people have died with the virus.

We visited a school in Hertfordshire, where they are keeping Covid rules in place until infections are down.