Omicron wave has peaked nationally; mandatory masks, work from home not needed: British PM Boris Johnson

London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced the end of Covid-19 measures including mandatory face masks in England. "Our scientists believe that is likely that Omicron wave has now peaked nationally. From now on, the government is no longer asking people to work from home," he said.

Johnson further said that the UK was the first nation in the world to administer a vaccine, and one of the fastest in Europe to roll it out."This was because we made the big call to pursue our own vaccine procurement, outside of the European Medicines Agency (EMA)," said Johnson."We made the tough decision to open up last summer when others said that we shouldn't, and kept open this winter while others locked down. As a result, we have the most open economy and society in Europe, and the fastest-growing economy in the G7," added Johnson.

The UK PM also said that they are the first nation to emerge from the Omicron wave because it focused on National Health Service (NHS) on delivering the fastest booster campaign in Europe. "And it is because of the extraordinary booster campaign - together with the way the public has responded to the Plan B measures - that we can return to Plan A in England and allow Plan B regulations to expire," said Johnson.

Plan B measures refer to legally enforced face masks, mandatory COVID passes and advice to work from home. Johnson also said that his "government got the big things right". He said, "Confronted by the nation`s biggest challenge since the Second World War and the worst pandemic since 1918, any government would get some things wrong. "The move comes amid a peak in Covid-19 cases in the UK and his former chief adviser Dominic Cummings accusations that the British prime minister lied to the parliament that he thought a drinks party held in the Downing Street garden during the first lockdown was work-related.

"On 18th January, 94,432 new cases and 438 deaths in 28 days of a positive test were reported in the UK," tweeted UK Health Security Agency. A total of 52,133,611 people have now received the first dose of a vaccine, while 47,989,635 people have now received the second dose of a vaccine. Meanwhile, 36,546,583 people have received a booster dose, added UK Health Security Agency.

The UK was the first country to raise alarm over Covid-19 mutations, to limit international travel over the Omicron variant, and in December introduced work-at-home advice, more mask-wearing and vaccine passes to slow its spread.