‘Plan B’ Covid measures could cost UK economy £18bn, documents suggest
Leaked documents by Treasury and Covid taskforce are based on five-month stint of home working in England
Treasury documents have suggested that a return to home working, a key plank of Boris Johnson's plan B" proposal to deal with rising Covid-19 cases, would cause up to 18bn of damage to the UK economy over five months.
A government source said there was no suggestion restrictions would be that length, if they were introduced at all. Johnson has so far resisted a move to plan B in England, which would also entail more widespread mask-wearing and the extended use of vaccine passports. Instead, the government has said it will focus on ramping up booster jabs for the over-50s and vulnerable adults, as well as the vaccine programme for over-12s.
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