Covid: Work-from-home guidance comes into effect in England as omicron cases rise

Return to remote working part of Boris Johnson’s set of plan B measures

People in England should now work from home if possible, according to new government guidance aimed at slowing the spread of the omicron coronavirus variant.

The measure, which came into effect on Monday, is one of Boris Johnson’s so-called plan B measures, despite which the prime minister warned on Sunday night that the UK faces a “tidal wave” of omicron infections.

The return to home-working guidance in England brings the country into line with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but business leaders have urged chancellor Rishi Sunak to provide relief for businesses as retail and hospitality firms fear they will now see a greater financial hit in the run-up to Christmas.

Of the other plan B measures announced last Wednesday, rules mandating face masks in increased settings like theatres, places of worship and cinemas came into force the following day.

And new rules for Covid passports for nightclubs and other venues are not set to come into force until Wednesday, with MPs expected to be given a Commons vote on the new rules the previous day.

The prime minister currently faces a significant rebellion of some 65 Tory MPs, many of whom are particularly incensed by the idea of barring people from certain spaces based upon their vaccination status or lack of a recent test result.

But despite the number of Tory rebels posing a threat to Mr Johnson’s sizeable majority, Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has pledged that the prime minister can rely on the opposition to pass his new rules through parliament

The move to work-from-home guidance came days after members of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) and Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended ministers do so to slow the spread of the omicron variant.

But despite the arrival of early research indicating that booster vaccine doses may offer significantly greater protection against the new variant than two jabs, and modelling by UK scientists forecasting between 25,000 and 75,000 deaths by April in worst-case scenarios, Mr Johnson has stopped short of introducing even tighter measures.

Instead, warning of a “tidal wave” of omicron in a pre-prepared address to the nation on Sunday night, the prime minister announced a push to offer everyone in over the age of 18 in England a booster jab by the end of the year.

Speaking hours later, after replacing the mandatory 10-day isolation period for omicron contacts with seven days of tests for double-jabbed people, health secretary Sajid Javid suggested it was again a “race” between the virus and the vaccine in the UK.

Among thousands of suspected cases, Mr Javid said that so far 10 people had been hospitalised with the new variant in England, adding: “There is always a lag between infection and then hospitalisation and then, sadly, death.”

Responding to the new home-working advice, British Chambers of Commerce director Shevaun Haviland wrote to Mr Sunak urging him to return to relief measures including VAT and business rates relief for the hospitality, tourism and retail sectors, and grants for hard-hit businesses.