Ministers will not trigger the Covid-19 “plan B” before Christmas solely in response to rising UK cases of the Omicron variant, i has been told, despite confirmation that the new strain is now spreading in the community.
Sajid Javid told MPs on Monday that some of the 336 people infected with Omicron in Britain caught it in this country, rather than importing it from abroad. Another 90 cases have been detected, covering nearly all parts of the UK.
None of the 336 Omicron cases has been hospitalised, the minister said.
Mr Javid said: “The Omicron variant is continuing to spread here and around the world… This includes cases with no links to international travel, so we can conclude there is now community transmission across multiple regions of England.”
Outlining the latest measures against the variant including pre-departure tests and placing Nigeria on the red list, Mr Javid added: “We can’t say for certain at this point whether Omicron has the potential to knock us off our road to recovery. We are leaving nothing to chance…
“But we can say we are doing everything in our power to strengthen our national defences. We will be as prepared as possible for whatever this virus brings.”
The number of Delta cases is also increasing with 51,459 new infections confirmed across the UK, a rise of nearly 9,000 on the previous Monday, while daily deaths appear to have stopped falling.
Despite the growing presence of the variant, which is forecast to become dominant next month, the Government will not impose new restrictions unless laboratory data and evidence from South Africa prove it is significantly more dangerous to the British population.
However, if hospital admissions rise significantly as a result of soaring admissions, it will increase the chances of extra measures.
A No 10 spokesman said: “There is no set threshold, that is not the approach we have taken throughout. What is important is that we put in the steps necessary to buy us time while scientists both here in places like Porton Down and around the world get more hard data on the characteristics of this variant.”
A Government insider told i that a rise in cases is almost inevitable and would not be enough to convince ministers they should crack down before Christmas, for example by telling people to work from home or imposing vaccine passports on crowded venues.
Asked whether the current restrictions were tough enough, Boris Johnson said: “I don’t think we need to change the overall guidance and advice we’re giving about Omicron in this country. We’re still waiting to see exactly how dangerous it is, what sort of effect it has in terms of deaths and hospitalisations.”
Although he refused to guarantee that no further measures would come into effect over the next three weeks, the Prime Minister added: “I’ve said I think many times now that I think this Christmas will be considerably better than last Christmas.”
Mr Johnson is likely to confirm next Thursday what rules will apply over Christmas, because that is the last day Parliament is sitting before it breaks up for the festive recess.
One leading scientist suggested that Christmas would help reduce transmission because the absence of people from schools and offices will cut the number of close contacts each individual has, outweighing the effect of increased travel around the country due to family reunions.
But others fear that if new rules do prove to be needed at some point, deliberately delaying them until the New Year would only require tougher measures which would be in place for longer.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMilgFodHRwczovL2luZXdzLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvcG9saXRpY3MvcGxhbi1iLXdvbnQtYmUtdXNlZC1iZWZvcmUtY2hyaXN0bWFzLWV2ZW4taWYtb21pY3Jvbi1jYXNlcy1jb250aW51ZS10by1yaXNlLXVubGVzcy12YXJpYW50LWlzLW1vcmUtZGFuZ2Vyb3VzLTEzMzgyMzHSAZoBaHR0cHM6Ly9pbmV3cy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3BvbGl0aWNzL3BsYW4tYi13b250LWJlLXVzZWQtYmVmb3JlLWNocmlzdG1hcy1ldmVuLWlmLW9taWNyb24tY2FzZXMtY29udGludWUtdG8tcmlzZS11bmxlc3MtdmFyaWFudC1pcy1tb3JlLWRhbmdlcm91cy0xMzM4MjMxL2FtcA?oc=5
2021-12-06 17:38:00Z
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