New Year celebrations could be in doubt as the Government draws up new plans to tackle the spread of the Omicron variant.
Officials are reportedly considering imposing a two-week circuit breaker after Christmas.
The measures would take hold pre-New Year's Day, meaning December 27 to 30 are likely candidates, Mail Online reports.
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"The timing of such measures is crucial," Sage experts have warned the Government.
"Delaying until 2022 would greatly reduce the effectiveness of such interventions and make it less likely that these would prevent considerable pressure on health and care settings."
The Government said a further 125 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have now been 172,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
A Government spokesperson said: "The Government will continue to look closely at all the emerging data and we’ll keep our measures under review as we learn more about this variant."
