Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, said: “As ever more people benefit from the protection of our phenomenal vaccination campaign, we can now safely begin to relieve some of the most stringent infection control where they are no longer necessary to benefit patients and ease the burden on hardworking NHS staff.”

He said he looked forward to the UKHSA’s assessment of “what further steps can be taken in other healthcare settings including in primary care”.

Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said: “The recommended changes will help to increase efficiency and capacity within healthcare settings and give healthcare leaders and their teams the flexibility they need at a time when everyone is working so hard to increase the numbers of patients that can be safely diagnosed and treated.”

However, a number of hospitals have already introduced some of the changes, after international guidance changed.

Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, welcomed some of the changes.

But he said the removal of “enhanced cleaning smacks of corner cutting”, warning that hygiene was essential to prevent spread of many infections.