British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Tuesday that he plans to scrap all remaining COVID legal restrictions in England in less than two weeks, a month earlier than initially planned.

"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," said in an opening statement before Parliament on Tuesday.

"It is my intention to return on the first day after half recess to present our strategy for living with COVID," Johnson told lawmakers. Parliament returns from recess on Feb. 21.

Johnson had ended most of the nation's COVID-19 restrictions last July, and last month lifted special measures--called Plan B, which included mask use in public--put in place to help slow the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Restrictions that currently remain in place include a legal requirement to quarantine if you test positive that is backed by fines of up to £10,000 (about $13,500). That rule was set to lapse on March 24, with Johnson previously stating he would like to end the requirement earlier if he could, according to Reuters.

Doing away with the legal fine, Johnson plans to replace self-isolation regulations with guidance, with his spokesperson comparing the new guidance to be similar to the way people are recommended to stay home when they have the flu to reduce the virus's spread.

Johnson also plans to end the requirement for fully vaccination travellers arriving in England to take a COVID test from this Friday, Reuters reports. A spokesperson for Johnson added that remaining travel restrictions will be addressed with lawmakers return to Parliament later this month.

The nation will continue to offer free COVID testing, but is expected to wind down this program at some point, with Johnson's spokesperson added that COVID is reaching the "phase of endemicity". Pandemics become endemics when the the virus is still circulating, but at a low enough level that it is no longer a threat to the nation's overall healthcare industry as infection rates become static--not rising or falling. However, the nation is still met with about 60,000 confirmed cases per day, and the present threat of new variants can still harm Johnson's plans.

England has recorded nearly 160,000 deaths attributed to the coronavirus over the past two years, and Johnson has been met with criticism over decisions made throughout the pandemic. The prime minister has recently come under fire after hosting a party at his residence that allegedly breached the nation's COVID lockdown rules.