Testing Rules Relaxed To Stop Omicron Shutdown

Boris Johnson has binned extra Covid testing rules in a drive to stop the Omicron variant shutting down the economy.

- Macer Hall

From 4 am tomorrow travellers no longer need to take a test before returning to the UK.

And people testing positive after a lateral flow test do not have to have a PCR confirmation.

Signalling his desire to avoid any return to lockdown, the Prime Minister told the House of Commons yesterday: “This Government does not believe we need to shut down our country again.”

Mr Johnson’s move to scrap measures imposed in November because of Omicron won the backing of senior Tories and business leaders.

It came after he chaired an online morning Cabinet meeting, which backed his decision not to impose new Covid curbs.

Ministers agreed to stick with his “Plan B” measures, including mandatory face masks in most public indoor settings and working from home where possible, for another three weeks.

They will carry out a further review before the regulations expire on January 26.

Mr Johnson said the Government was “taking a balanced approach” while strengthening the NHS.

He said: “All of these measures are helping to take the edge off the Omicron wave, slow the spread of infection, manage the immediate pressures on our NHS and buy time for the boosters to take effect. When the Omicron variant was first identified, we rightly introduced travel restrictions to slow its arrival in our country.

“But now Omicron is so prevalent, these measures are having limited impact on the growth in cases while continuing to pose significant costs on our travel industry.”