Football supporters will be required to show Covid-19 passes for entrance into stadiums from a week's time, as part of new measures announced this evening by the Prime Minister.

Work-from-home guidance will return and vaccine passports will become mandatory in large venues, while mask rules will be extended to combat the Omicron variant.

In a press conference this evening, Boris Johnson warned it is clear the new strain is “growing much faster” than Delta and cases of Omicron could be doubling every two or three days as he strengthened England’s rules to slow the spread of Covid-19.

As a result, the NHS Covid pass will be mandatory in nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather from “a week’s time”, including football stadia.

Venues include those indoors that are unseated with more than 500 people, unseated outdoor venues with more than 4,000 people and any venue hosting more than 10,000 people.

That means the changes will first affect Watford fans travelling to Turf Moor for the away game against Burnley next week.

A negative lateral flow test will also be sufficient proof, Mr Johnson said.

In the Commons, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there are 568 cases of Omicron confirmed but that the true figure is estimated to be “probably closer to 10,000”.