People are to be asked to work from home “if they can” from December 13 in a bid to slow the spread of omicron in workplaces.
Employers were being “encouraged to use the rest of this week to discuss working arrangements with their employees”, Mr Johnson said. This requirement was guidance only and not a legal requirement.
He said: “Go to work if you must, but work from home if you can. And I know this will be hard for many people, but by reducing your contacts in the workplace you will help slow transmission.”
The return of working from home was condemned by Cllr Rachael Robathan, the leader of the City of Westminster Council, who feared for shops and firms that relied on office workers to stay open.
She said: “We are deeply concerned at the impact this will have on the people and businesses of Westminster. Working from home is going to prove a hammer blow to those traders who fought their way through the last lockdown, some of them only narrowly surviving closure.”
The decision came just days after Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, said that people should work from home until January.
Test and release
Anyone found to have been in contact with someone who has contracted the omicron variant will be able return to the community after a negative lateral flow test.
The announcement was a crumb of good news given that the current rules, first introduced at the end of last month, said that contacts of someone with omicron would have to isolate for 10 days at home.
Testing was a “vital tool in controlling the spread given the likely increased transmissibility of omicron”.
Mr Johnson said: “As omicron spreads in the community, we will also introduce daily tests for contacts instead of isolation, so we keep people safe while minimising the disruption to daily life.”
