Plan B: lifting of Covid rules in England a ‘political decision’ to distract from Partygate

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The founder of Frontline-19, Claire Goodwin-Fee, has said it is “immoral and unnecessary” to remove the requirement to wear face masks

The lifting of Covid Plan B restrictions is a “political and not a scientific” decision, the founder of a service helping healthcare workers during the pandemic has said.

The Government is removing remaining restrictions in England from Thursday (27 January), with face masks no longer mandatory in indoor public places and Covid passports scrapped.

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‘The plan is purely a political one’

But Claire Goodwin-Fee, founder of Frontline-19, has said she believes the lifting of restrictions is a chance for the Prime Minister to divert attention from the Downing Street parties scandal.

Ms Goodwin-Fee said: “As much as I would like to return to a more normal way of being, I and many others believe it’s premature and I will not be removing my mask yet.

“I feel that the plan away from any restrictions is purely a political and not a scientific one.

“Many people have expressed dismay that the Prime Minister has seemingly put his own chance to detract from ‘Partygate’ and the wine and cheese parties in Downing Street, above the health needs of the country.”

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Civil servant Sue Gray has been investigating the parties at Downing Street, which allegedly took place during Covid lockdowns, with the report due to be presented this week.

What the Prime Minister said about lifting Plan B restrictions

NationalWorld contacted the Cabinet Office and a spokesperson said the Prime Minister has previously addressed that the country will be reverting back to Plan A due to the science.

They added that the decision was based on the rollout and uptake of the Covid jab.

Mr Johnson has previously said: “There is much, much more that unites all parts of the UK in our handling of Covid than divides us.

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"And we’ve seen that in the herculean UK-wide booster roll out efforts to get jabs in arms and our joint response in quickly co-operating and sharing data on Omicron with the devolved Governments.

"We have always said we would update on Plan B ahead of 26 January and the Health Secretary set out clearly that we’ve been able to return to Plan A thanks to the efforts of public in coming forward for their booster jabs

"That has been the biggest single reason we were able to cautiously remove Plan B, as cases are starting to fall.”

‘Immoral and unnecessary to remove mask mandate’

Ms Goodwin-Fee added that although the country is in a “much better place” due the vaccine rollout, which was carried out by the NHS and volunteers.

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However, she added: “It is immoral and unnecessary to remove the mask mandate at this point as it will increase pressure on an already struggling healthcare system that has been poorly funded and eroded for years.”

She said that instead of dropping all restrictions, we “all need to transition into a new way of living in the same way that we transitioned into a lockdown”.

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