As London passes the peak and transport reopens, could it really be a happy new year?

London may be emerging from the worst of the new Covid-19 peak, with the capital’s public health boss saying London appears to be past the peak of infections and vital transport infrastructure kicking back into gear today.

Professor Kevin Fenton, London’s public health director, said the data suggests “we may have passed or are at the peak” of Covid-19 cases.

“We’re seeing reductions in overall case rates across the city and prevalence of infection within the community,” he told Sky News.

The fresh sign of good news comes as many City offices return after the winter break and vital transport infrastructure reopens. The Waterloo and City line will be running this morning for the first time in 2022 and trains operated by Southern will once again run to Victoria, which has been all but shut over the past week due to virus-related staff shortages.

Cabinet minister and former vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said the country was on the road from “pandemic to endemic.”

He also gave a cautious welcome to mooted plans to cut the self-isolation period from seven days to five when receiving a positive test, a move already taken in the US.

Zahawi said a change would “certainly help” with staff absences.

A report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research suggested Covid-19 absences could cost the economy as much as £35bn over January and February if cases remain as high as they are currently.

Writing in today’s City PM, Canada Corporation policy chief Catherine McGuinness said she hoped government would look at the “data” over the coming weeks.

She said the move to ‘Plan B’ work from home guidance had been “devastating” for City hospitality businesses and for office workers “who had just begun to enjoy the advantages of collegiality, community and coming together for creativity.”

Mark Harper, the Tory MP who has been a critic of restrictions, told the Financial Times last night that Boris Johnson should abandon Plan B by the end of the month or face a backbench rebellion.