Covid news live: England expected to ease Omicron restrictions; WHO chief says pandemic is ‘nowhere near over’

British PM set to relax Plan B Covid measures, ending the use of vaccine certificates and work-from-home guidance; the narrative that Omicron is a mild disease is misleading, WHO says

• Plan B Covid restrictions in England expected to ease after Cabinet meeting
• Nicola Sturgeon announces lifting of Omicron restrictions in Scotland
• Calls for French MP to resign after announcing Covid protocol from Ibiza
• Hong Kong to cull thousands of hamsters after Covid found on 11
• New Zealand closes borders to new arrivals over Omicron risk

British prime minister Boris Johnson is expected to instruct millions to return to workplaces across England as he tries to placate furious MPs with a review of Covid restrictions that could end all rules introduced to combat Omicron.

The cabinet will meet on Wednesday morning to examine Covid data and review plan B restrictions imposed in December amid the rapid spread of the variant, with Johnson set to update the Commons later in the day.