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All covid restrictions in england could end on the 20 fourth of february. Some might be asking, why now? The announcement comes at a difficult time for boris johnson politically. But whether you believe that or not, england will be one of the first western countries to leave restrictions behind. And sadly, people are still dying from this disease. This is still a huge worry.

Last week Boris Johnson announced that all Covid regulations in England, including the requirement to isolate after testing positive, were due to be abolished on 24 February. Whilst the Omicron variant has caused fewer hospitalisations and deaths than many predicted, some scientists say the changes may be going too far, too soon. Madeleine Finlay gets the Guardian science correspondent Hannah Devlin’s view on whether there’s scientific evidence backing up this decision and what the changes could look like. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod