Further UK-wide circuit-breaker lockdown could be on the cards even before Christmas as Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, refused to rule out further measures against the surging tide of infections.
Javid said figures projecting the number of hospitalisations and work absences for the NHS were giving Ministers serious cause for concern.
He told The Andrew Marr Show: “It’s a very sobering analysis. We take it very seriously.”
Further restrictions are needed within days to stop hospitals being overwhelmed by the surge of Omicron, according to senior government scientists.
When it was suggested to Javid he was not ruling out a circuit-breaker or new restrictions before Christmas, Javid said: “There are no guarantees in this pandemic, I don’t think.”
This would mean a return to a ban on indoor mixing and hospitality once again being outdoors only.
Such a move would put huge pressure on the Treasury to respond to demands from businesses and devolved governments to compensate the hospitality sector, which would be severely affected by closures.
SNP Ministers made themselves unavailable for the usual round of Sunday morning interviews and it was left to Jason Leitch, Scotland’s chief clinical adviser, to defend restrictions amid growing speculation there will be a UK-wide circuit breaker after Christmas.
Leitch hinted at the thinking of Scottish Ministers when said: “When you first get a new variant act hard, act quickly, there is no other option. That is always rewarded and you can see other countries doing that the Netherlands is locked down in 24 hours, France and Germany, Ireland making big steps to close down parts of their business sector their society in order to deal with this.”
Javid described advice from Government scientific advisers warning of the possible impact on hospital admissions from Omicron as “sobering” and said there are “no guarantees” when asked about the possibility of further restrictions:
“At this point we just have to keep everything under review.”
The government’s scientific advisers have reportedly recommended moving to restrictions that would mean a return to a ban on indoor mixing and hospitality once again being outdoors only.
Draft regulations are being prepared which would ban meeting others indoors except for work purposes, and limit restaurants and pubs to outdoor service only.
A decision on measures could be announced in the next few days but while Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is urging further restrictions Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces major problems getting any kind of return to lockdown past rebellious MPs on his own backbenches.
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