"It hasn't gone away has it?" The mood in Manchester city centre as Plan B mask rules are lifted

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

"I'm still wearing mine, it's still with us isn't it" says Chris Wardle as he pulls his screwed-up black cloth face mask from his coat pocket.

And he is not alone. Today was another big milestone in the country's battle with Covid. All the so-called 'Plan B' restrictions brought in before Christmas to try and halt the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus officially expired, with the government saying they will not be renewed. READ MORE: It means it is no longer a legal requirement to wear a face-covering in shops, public transport, or in fact any setting in England other than public transport in London.

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted saying the rules were able to be relaxed due to the success of the country's booster jab campaign but that the 'pandemic is not over yet' and that everyone 'should remain cautious.' And walking around Manchester city centre, that sense of caution was palpable.

Of course, anecdotally, compliance with mask-wearing since the rule change during the festive period has been lower than the first part of the pandemic, with some people seemingly having gotten out of the habit during last summer's previous complete lifting of restrictions.