Mandatory face masks will no longer be required across England from next week while advice for people to work from home will be dropped immediately, the Prime Minister told MPs yesterday.

Boris Johnson announced during Prime Minister's Questions that he was axing Plan B measures because of a decline in coronavirus infections and a belief among scientists that the peak of the Omicron wave has passed.

While Swindon's Tory MPs welcomed the rule change, the hospital's chief and a prominent Labour councillor were more cautious.

Kevin McNamara, chief executive of Great Western Hospital, urged people to keep wearing masks when visiting the hospital and revealed that he will continue to wear his mask in other indoor areas.

He tweeted: "The Plan B rule changes from January 26 don’t mean a change at GWH.

"Please continue to wear a mask when coming into any health building. They really do work.

"I’ll still be wearing mine out and about in shops and busy indoor spaces etc as the community case rate is still high out there."

There were 498 Covid cases recorded in Swindon yesterday and one more death within 28 days of a positive test

Between January 13 and yesterday, 2,657 people received a positive test result, a drop of almost 20% compared to the previous seven days.

A GWH spokesman said: "It's one of the easiest ways to protect yourself and others from Covid-19. We will all be wearing ours."

Speaking on behalf of Swindon Labour, Coun Jim Robbins agreed with Mr McNamara on the face mask issue.

He added: "Whilst we, like everyone, want to see the back of Covid, we are worried that this might be too fast.

"Are the government really taking all of the science and data into account, or is the prime minister rushing this through to try to appease his backbenchers and get them back on side after all his issues?

"I certainly urge people to listen to reliable experts like Kevin McNamara at the GWH and think about wearing masks in busy areas and not taking unnecessary risks.

"We know that local schools are still seeing lots of cases and struggling to have enough staff to cover all their classes."

Both of Swindon's MPs were asked whether or not it was the right time to do away with restrictions. 190 staff at GWH were off sick with Covid every day in the week to January 9.

South Swindon's Robert Buckland said: "I welcome today's announcement.

"Thanks to our world-leading vaccination programme we have been able to be the most open economy in Europe and are now able to enter the next stage by taking these steps.

North Swindon's Justin Tomlinson added: "This is very welcome news and only possible thanks to the exceptional vaccine and booster roll-out.

"This is our best line of defence, so anyone eligible can still and should come forward.

"We all owe a huge thank you to the NHS staff and volunteers who delivered the fastest booster programme in Europe."