What is Plan B? The new Covid restrictions Boris Johnson is reportedly set to announce

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reportedly preparing to announce a new raft of restrictions in England, known as ‘Plan B’.

The PM is considering bringing in new rules in a bid to curb the spread of the Omicron variant.

According to reports in the Financial Times, the government may impose Plan B as early as this week.

It would mean new restrictions across the country, including a return to working from home for millions of people.

The Plan B proposal was first published by the government last autumn and hasn’t yet been implemented.

According to the Government’s website, we will only move to Plan B ‘if the data suggests further measures are necessary to protect the NHS’.

It’s made up of three points:

• Communicating clearly and urgently to the public that the level of risk has increased, and with it the need to behave more cautiously.
• Introducing mandatory vaccine-only COVID-status certification in certain settings.
• Legally mandating face coverings in certain settings.

The government is also expected to ask people to work from home again if they can, for a limited period.

Read more: Boris Johnson booed in Parliament as he insists no Downing Street Christmas party took place

Mandatory vaccine-only passports would mean that only those who are fully vaccinated would be able to visit nightclubs or indoor settings with more than 500 attendees, under Plan B. However, senior Tory MP William Wragg said today that Plan B is a “diversionary tactic” to distract from the controversy surrounding Number 10’s rumoured Christmas party last December.

The PM faced a grilling at today’s PMQs but continued to insist that no party took place when the rest of the country was living under restrictions.

Featured Image – Unsplash / gov.uk