Covid fines for fake vaccine passes or giving the wrong test result could reach £10,000 under new laws.
In a bid to curb the spread of the Omicron variant, it will soon be an offence to falsify a Covid test or pass.
Other offences under the regulations also could result in fines for breaking the rules.
These include a £1,000 in the first instance, reduced to £500 if paid within 14 days, for venues who do not comply with the rules or ignore improvement notices issued by councils.
The fines double for the second and third offences (£2,000 and then £4,000), jumping to £10,000 for the fourth or any subsequent offences thereafter, reports LancsLive.
The Health Protection ( Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Entry to Venues and Events) (England) Regulations 2021 make it an offence to make, adapt, supply or offer to supply “false evidence of Covid status to another person” which is known to be “false or misleading” and this will be punishable by a fixed penalty notice (FPN).
This comes as the first person to die with Omicron has been confirmed.
Speaking during a visit to a vaccination clinic yesterday (December 13), the Prime Minister said: “Sadly yes Omicron is producing hospitalisations and sadly at least one patient has been confirmed to have died with Omicron.
“So I think the idea that this is somehow a milder version of the virus, I think that’s something we need to set on one side and just recognise the sheer pace at which it accelerates through the population. So the best thing we can do is all get our boosters.”
It came just hours after Health Secretary Sajid Javid told ITV Good Morning Britain that he was not able to confirm any deaths in England from the Omicron variant, but stressed that a delay between infection and admission to hospital and death should be expected.
The Prime Minister said that Omicron now represents about 40% of coronavirus cases in London and “tomorrow it’ll be the majority of the cases” in the capital.
