Ministers in Britain have reportedly pushed back against calls from scientific advisers for new measures to tackle the Omicron variant before Christmas.
Confirmed cases of the faster-spreading variant have risen by more than 12,000 in the UK – and London’s cases alone topped 10,000, according to the latest data on Sunday.
But around one third of the British cabinet are said to be reluctant to support new restrictions in the coming days, with prime minister Boris Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak among them, according to The Times.
The paper reported that 10 ministers are resisting a call by the government’s chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance at the weekend for new restrictions to be brought in as soon as possible to prevent the health service being overwhelmed.
Mr Johnson has been presented with three options to tackle the spread of the virus, according to the Daily Telegraph.
The paper reported that they range from guidance asking people to limit indoor contacts, to rules on household mixing, social distancing and a curfew on pubs and restaurants, and thirdly a full lockdown.
The Telegraph quoted one unnamed cabinet minister as saying data presented by Dr Vallance and England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty on Saturday was “just trashed by the Cabinet”.
The source said “guidelines, rather than restrictions, are entirely possible”.
British health secretary Sajid Javid said it is time to be “more cautious” and did not rule out new measures before Christmas, telling BBC One’s Andrew Marr programme there are “no guarantees in this pandemic”.
We want to make sure every adult has the opportunity to #GetBoosted by the end of the year.
Earlier this week, @SajidJavid visited Gordon Hospital to thank staff for their efforts and meet people queueing for their #COVID19 boosters.
Book online ▶️ https://t.co/6twN7Csl6Z pic.twitter.com/LG12ppEm3C— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) December 19, 2021
Advertisement
He confirmed that if new rules were to be proposed, the parliament would be recalled to approve them, describing that approach as “only right and proper”.
Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg later reiterated Mr Javid’s stance, but insisted it was “too early” to forecast whether a recall would be necessary.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour: “Chris Whitty is himself saying we don’t have the full data, they are not yet available, we are getting more information from South Africa that is more advanced in the Omicron variant so it is too early to make these forecasts and it is really interesting that people are doing things for themselves.
“The cancellation of parties, the decisions not to socialise, the cancellations are people realising that they can make choices for themselves. They don’t always need to be told what to do by the government.”
London’s mayor Sadiq Khan warned that if restrictions are not brought in soon the NHS could be “on the verge of collapse”, with sickness affecting workforce levels.
British education secretary Nadhim Zahawi has called on ex-teachers to sign up to help with staff shortages in the new year, while headteachers’ unions have warned of possible disruption to in-person lessons.
Advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), published at the weekend, warned there are likely already hundreds of thousands of new Omicron infections every day in England and that hospital admissions with the variant in the UK are “probably around one tenth of the true number” due to a lag in reporting.
Deaths in England of people with the variant have risen to 12, while hospital admissions of patients with confirmed or suspected Omicron increased to 104, according to the latest figures from the UK Health Security Agency.
A further 12,133 confirmed cases of the variant were reported across the UK on Sunday, bringing the total confirmed cases of Omicron across its four nations to 37,101.
In total, a further 82,886 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases were recorded in the UK as of 9am Sunday, its government said.
