THE chief executive of an academy trust in York has welcomed the Government’s easing of Plan B restrictions - including face coverings no longer being required in classrooms.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced today (Wednesday) that the country’s Plan B restrictions will be lifted as England moves back to Plan A.

The Prime Minister said that people will no longer be told to work from home and mandatory Covid certificates, such as passports, will no longer be required unless a business chooses to continue to use them from next Thursday, January 27.

The Government will no longer require people wear facemasks anywhere from next Thursday and they will be scrapped in classrooms from today, with school communal areas to follow.

Adam Cooper, the chief executive of the South Bank Multi-Academy Trust, which includes Millthorpe School, York High and four primary schools, said that he “welcomes” the easing of the Plan B restrictions.

Mr Cooper said: “As an educationalist, I welcome the removal of the requirements for pupils to wear masks in classrooms. In our roles in education we are required to trust the Government and expert decision makers in matters such as this.

“The safety and health of pupils and staff must be the number one priority, but the impact on teaching and learning of wearing face coverings shouldn’t be underestimated.

“We’ll welcome the chance for our teachers to return to the intense, enriching, delivery and interaction with pupils - that they’re such experts in. It is a lot more difficult to deliver quality education if you cannot read young people’s faces.”

On the use of face masks going forward, Mr Johnson said: “In the country at large, we will continue to suggest the use of face coverings in enclosed or crowded spaces, particularly when you come into contact with people you don’t normally meet, but we will trust the judgment of the British people and no longer criminalise anyone who chooses not to wear one.”

The Prime Minister said that the legal requirement for people with coronavirus to self-isolate will also be allowed to lapse when the regulations expire on March 24 - and that date could be brought forward.

However, Mr Johnson made it clear that to move towards living with Covid-19, everyone must remain “cautious” during these last weeks of winter - as he said there are still more than 16,000 people in hospital due to Covid-19 in England.

“The pandemic is not over,” he added.

The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that one in 20 people in private households in England is estimated to have had coronavirus in the week to January 15.