All domestic Covid rules in England are expected to be dropped by the end of February, a month before the government had initially planned to make the move.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Parliament the decision was motivated by “encouraging trends in the data”.
Parliament will break up on Friday until February 21, when Mr Johnson is expected to outline the government’s strategy.
“It is my intention to return on the first day after the half-term recess to present our strategy for living with Covid,” he said.
“Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions, including the legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive, a full month early.”
Those self-isolation restrictions had been due to expire on March 24 but the requirement is now expected to be replaced by guidance to stay at home.
Currently, those who contract the virus are able to end their isolation five full days from testing positive or from when symptoms first arose, if they test negative on days five and six, the first day of their illness being day zero.
“What we would simply be doing is removing the domestic regulations which relate to isolation,” Mr Johnson’s spokesman said.
The government ended almost all Covid-19 restrictions in England last July, and last month lifted Plan B measures that had been imposed temporarily to slow the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
Those included a requirement to wear a face mask in shops and on public transport, as well as guidance to work from home.
From Friday, the requirement for vaccinated travellers arriving in the country to take a Covid-19 test is also being dropped.
The devolved governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are responsible for setting their own coronavirus rules and restrictions.
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
