The UK has lifted COVID-19 limitations, citing Johnson's assertion that Omicron has reached its maximum

As infections in significant regions of the United Kingdom decline, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that face masks would no longer be required in public places and schools, and COVID-19 passports will be abolished for major events.

The limitations were relaxed, Johnson told legislators because government scientists felt the spike of illnesses caused by the highly infectious Omicron type "had now crested countrywide."

The limits were put in place in December to help prevent the spread of the omicron form and give people more time to obtain their booster vaccination shots.

Most people over the age of 60 in the United Kingdom, according to Johnson, have gotten booster doses.

The government reported 108,069 new cases, which is almost half of the daily average over the holidays.

The rule that infected people self-isolate for five days is still in place, but Johnson says it will be phased down in the coming weeks.

While the self-isolation restriction is set to expire in March, he says he'll try to do rid of it sooner if virus data continues to improve.

Both Johnson and the Secretary of Health and Human Services said that the administration is preparing for a post-pandemic time when COVID-19 may be treated more like the flu.

Although the World Health Organization warned Tuesday that the pandemic will not end as the omicron variant subsidies in some countries, warning that the high levels of infection around the world will likely lead to new variants as the virus mutates, there are early signs and hopes that the omicron wave has peaked in some U.S. states as well.