Key moments from Boris Johnson’s Covid announcement
A further 249 omicron cases have been reported in the UK – a leap nearly double that of the previous day which brings the total number of infections of the new coronavirus variant identified to 807.
It came as the health secretary Sajid Javid – who warned the actual number of cases was likely closer to 10,000, and could rise to one million by Christmas – ruled out introducing mandatory vaccines for the general public, calling the move ethically wrong and impractical just hours after Boris Johnson said the idea should be considered.
“We need to have a national conversation about ways in which we deal with this pandemic,” the prime minister said on Wednesday night. “I don’t think we can keep going indefinitely with non-pharmaceutical interventions.”
In a Downing Street briefing, Mr Johnson announced a move to plan B restrictions for England, which include work-from-home guidance, mask rules and Covid passports, in an effort to contain the omicron variant.
