Work from home guidance to be lifted on June 21, Boris Johnson signals

Work-from-home guidance is set to be lifted on June 21, Boris Johnson signalled today after being warned London is “hurting” due to the lack of commuters and visitors from abroad.

Kensington Conservative MP Felicity Buchan stressed to the Prime Minister during a Covid-19 statement in the Commons how the capital’s economy had been hard hit by the lockdowns.

She urged him to confirm the “plan is to lift the work-at-home guidance as of June 21 providing we stay on track”.

Mr Johnson replied: “That is certainly our intention provided we stay on track but ... we’ll wait until we’re able to say that with more clarity a bit later on, because we must be guided by what’s happening with the pandemic ... It does depend on keeping the virus down.”

Central London was plunged into a “ghost town” like state as hundreds of thousands of workers stayed working at home for months.

The city is now seeing a gradual return to offices and other workplaces, with trains and Tube significantly more busy than during early spring.

However, many businesses in central areas have struggled to survive, as trade dried up with so few people heading into town.

Parts of London have seen the highest jumps in unemployment, and people on furlough, in the country as so many workers in these areas work in the hospitality and other sectors hardest hit by the coronavirus restrictions.

Covid-19 cases in London have tumbled and are now down to 18.6 confirmed infections per 100,000 people in the week to May 6, down 8.8 per cent on the previous week.

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