Plan B restrictions, which were introduced before Christmas amid the spread of the Omicron variant, however the prime minister said today that said the decision came after the latest ONS data showed cases were falling in almost all parts of the country – except in the northeast and southwest.

Johnson said it was time to “trust the judgement” of the public on the use of masks in enclosed and crowded places, and they will be scrapped in classrooms from tomorrow.

He confirmed the intention to end self-isolation rules for people with coronavirus in the coming weeks. Restrictions on visits to care homes are also set to be eased further, with health secretary Sajid Javid setting out plans “in the coming days”.

Covid-19 restrictions: the government will remove almost all restrictions from next week after scrapping “Plan B”