LONDON: The UK government announced on Wednesday it would lift restrictions reimposed in England last month to fight a surge in Omicron coronavirus cases, after data showed infections had peaked.
Guidance advising people to work from home was immediately lifted, while from mid-next week they will no longer have to wear masks in any setting or use so-called COVID passes to enter places such as nightclubs .
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been fighting for his political future amid a scandal over his employees partying during the last lockdown, told lawmakers that the country's "extraordinary booster campaign" has made change possible.
They noted that more than 36 million booster jabs were delivered, with more than 90 percent in their 60s now given a third dose, while the record case rate fell for several weeks.
"Our scientists believe that it is likely that the omicron wave is now peaking nationally," he warned, adding that "the pandemic is not over".
"I encourage everyone across the country to continue taking all the cautious practices we know to help keep everyone safe," Johnson said.
Some have claimed that the relaxation of the rules was done by the troubled leader, who wants to anger critics with the revelation that he and his staff broke the COVID lockdown rules by organizing several parties on Downing Street.
Johnson, who only has health policy responsibility in England, reinstated restrictions last month to counter a "tidal wave" of infections expected from Omicron.
But facing turbulent Tory backbenchers, the prime minister shrugged off calls by some scientists for stricter measures, and allowed socializing and sporting events to continue unabated.
The developed governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland imposed strict restrictions banning large crowds at sporting events.
Within weeks, Britain's daily caseload for Covid topped a record 200,000 infections in early January.
This put significant pressure on the state-run National Health Service across the country and raised the country's COVID death toll, which now nears 153,000.
- 'Live with Covid' -
However, with mounting evidence that Omicron results in less severe disease and approximately 15 million boosters have been administered since additional regulations were implemented, hospitalizations and deaths have remained well below previous peaks.
Meanwhile, there has been a steady decline in infections in 2022, with nearly 108,000 new cases announced on Wednesday.
Data from the Office of National Statistics - viewed more accurately as it randomly samples the population - showed that weekly cases were reduced by about a fifth.
"The steps we announced today represent a major milestone," Health Secretary Sajid Javid told a Downing Street news conference on Wednesday.
"But it is not the end of the road and we should not see it as the finish line," he said.
Arguing "we must learn to live with COVID" similar to the seasonal flu, Javid said the government would formulate a long-term plan to live with the coronavirus within months.
That could eventually include ending mandatory self-isolation for people who have tested positive for Covid-19, he said.
"It's reasonable to think that as we're living with the flu, for example, we don't need people to legally self-isolate, but we need to be vigilant," Javid said.
Developing leaders in Edinburgh and Wales have also said they will ease strong rules re-imposed there, with the sporting event limit in time for the Six Nations rugby tournament starting next month.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced on Tuesday she would ease other restrictions, allowing nightclubs to reopen and bar table service no longer required.
He pointed out that the guidance asking people to stay up to the three household limit on indoor gatherings would also be removed.
The Welsh government has said a drop in COVID cases in intensive care means it will reduce its alert level from two to zero in the coming weeks.