Covid: Masks off in England’s schools, but is it right to end Plan B?on January 20, 2022 at 7:29 am

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Thursday morning. We’ll have another update for you this evening.

The government no longer requires secondary school pupils and staff in England to wear masks in classrooms, after a change in the rules was announced on Wednesday. Offices should also be busier, after working from home guidance ended yesterday. Other measures in “Plan B” will end from next Thursday – masks will no longer be mandatory in most indoor settings, and Covid passes for large events won’t be needed. It doesn’t mean the end of masks though – Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has already said they will still be needed on public transport in the capital, and other places can choose to require them.

There are plenty of reasons for ministers and their advisers to say the data supports the case for a relaxation, writes our health correspondent Nick Triggle. And the restriction that reduces spread of the virus most – the requirement to isolate – remains. The outgoing Plan B measures, by comparison, all have a more marginal impact, if any. Of these, working from home was the measure scientists always argued had the most effect – but the jury was out over the exact effectiveness of the others.

South African scientists – praised internationally for first detecting the Omicron variant – have accused Western nations of ignoring early evidence that the new Covid variant was “dramatically” milder than previous versions. Two of South Africa’s most prominent coronavirus experts told the BBC that Western scepticism about their work could be construed as “racist” – or at least a refusal “to believe the science because it came from Africa”.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains under pressure after admitting attending a Downing Street garden party during the first lockdown. On Wednesday, a Conservative MP switched sides to Labour; the ex-minister David Davis told the PM to resign; and there were claims that Conservative MPs were close to triggering a no-confidence vote. But that threshold, which requires 54 Tory MPs to submit letters, has not been reached – yet. And now, a minister has said MPs are starting to “step back”.

One of the world’s remotest museums has reopened for business, almost two years after it closed during the first wave of the pandemic. The South Georgia Museum – on a British island on the edge of the Antarctic – is a four-day boat ride from the nearest airport. It relies on cruise ship visitors, and the industry is slowly coming back to life. See the story and pictures here.

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Reported Covid cases in the UK remain high, but have fallen sharply since their early-January peak. See the data here. And you can find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page.

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