Move to ease UK pandemic restrictions draws criticism

LONDON－British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's announcement of easing COVID-19 measures in England has drawn skepticism from health experts.

On Wednesday, Johnson told lawmakers that Plan B COVID-19 restrictions, which includes mandatory rules for mask wearing, vaccine certificates and guidance to work from home, were being eased because it is likely that the surge of infections prompted by the highly contagious Omicron variant "has now peaked nationally".

The government is no longer advising people to work from home, and compulsory face masks will be scrapped in secondary school classrooms starting from next Thursday.

Besides, mandatory COVID-19 passes will not be needed to gain entry to large-scale events. Face masks will also no longer be legally required anywhere in England as of that day.

"We will trust the judgment of the British people and no longer criminalize anyone who chooses not to wear one," Johnson said.

The restrictions were introduced in December to slow the rapid spread of Omicron and buy time for the population to get their booster vaccine shots.

The prime minister told members of Parliament that the government will soon set out its long-term strategy for living with COVID-19.

The relaxation comes only one day after the World Health Organization warned against ending restrictions "prematurely".

Scientists also warned that cases could be higher again if people's behavior returned to normal quickly.

"Removing Plan B measures in the face of extremely high levels of infection is a risk," said Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick.

"Perhaps it would have been wiser to wait for another couple of weeks before removing the advice to work from home and the face coverings mandate. There's no guarantee that infection levels will continue to fall."

One city health official in the north of England told The Guardian that it was too soon to end Plan B restrictions.

"It does feel too early, certainly in the north. We're still seeing real pressure in hospitals, and people being off work. The idea of dropping everything next week just doesn't seem sensible. If we tell people they can all go back to the office, we'll just get even more people off sick," the official said.

"I personally thought we shouldn't have lost masks when we did last year－it was too soon. Every time you take something away and try to reintroduce it, public support is lost. I just wish there was a bit more time, so we can feel slightly more comfortable. It's not just COVID, but all the pressures on the (National Health Service)."

Britain registered 108,069 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 15,506,750, according to official figures released on Wednesday.

The country also reported a further 359 coronavirus related deaths, raising its national death toll from COVID-19 to 152,872.

Agencies - China Daily