Covid passports and work from home guidance are widely expected inside Whitehall to be lifted from Jan 26 for England, the report said, adding that some rules on face masks may remain.

An announcement could come as soon as this week, it said.

On Friday, the government published minutes from a Jan 7 meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies that said the epidemic had the potential to continue to grow nationally.

The group also warned that if there were a reversal of current interventions like Plan B in England, before the peak in infection was passed it could lead to increase in overall impact of the wave on hospitalisations.

Plan B, introduced last month to slow the spread of the Omicron variant, includes ordering people to work from home, wear masks in public places and use Covid passes to enter some venues.

Johnson said last week that England could withstand a surge in Covid-19 infections without shutting down the economy, resisting imposing stringent lockdown measures.