Work from home advice 'could continue past June 21'

4 June 2021, 10:39

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Workers could be told to continue working from home if they can beyond June 21 if Covid cases continue to surge.

The government guidance to work from home could continue beyond June 21, it has been claimed.

The work from home guidance was brought in on March 23 2020, and many Brits have spent the whole of the last year away from the office.

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If the June 21 date of lockdown-easing goes ahead, it would see all legal limits on social contact lifted, which would effectively signal the end of lockdown restrictions.

However, it has now been reported that officials are considering retaining 'work from home' guidance if Covid hospitalisations and deaths rise.

A government sources told the Telegraph: "Obviously working from home does have some consequences, but there’s no difference between now and two weeks’ time because the economic support will still be in place.

"There’s not that imperative to change the advice."

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick was asked about the report during a radio interview, and he replied: "There are options that are clearly available to the government."

'We set out with the roadmap what would be expected to happen at the next stage and we want to try to stick to that if we possibly can, all of us are moving everything we can to achieve that.

"But of course we keep these things under review and we are also asking people to continue to exercise caution in their daily lives.

"What can we do as citizens? Follow the rules as far as we can. If we don’t need to go into the office then obviously don’t do unnecessary trips in. And above all go out and get vaccinated."

SAGE member Professor John Edmonds said yesterday that keeping up the work from home advise is "one of the biggest levers" the government could pull in preventing further spread of coronavirus as it has "significantly reduced" contact among adults.