Andy Burnham has told people that it's not yet time to cancel Christmas parties and social plans, following the news that the first suspected cases of the Omicron variant have landed in Greater Manchester.
The mayor held a press conference today, December 1, to share an update on the coronavirus response in the region after the news that there were two cases in Bolton, 'highly probable' to be of the new Omicron strain.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced new rules which will see face masks make a mandatory return to shops and public transport, but the PM urged people to feel free to continue socialising.
This comes despite messages from other health leaders, including head of the UK's Health Security Agency Dr Jenny Harries, who has said that people can help prevent the spread by reducing the number of social contacts they have - and by "not socialising when we don't particularly need to".
The Omicron variant, understood by scientists to be more transmissible than other strains of the virus, has already led to an impact on hospitality, Burnham told the press conference.
The Greater Manchester Mayor fell in the same camp as the Prime Minister, telling the region's residents that there is 'no need to cancel events' if people take the right precautions'.
The new rules on mask-wearing will be accompanied by 'higher presence' of enforcement on trams, said Burnham.
"Following some statements made by, principally, the deputy chief medical officer around socialising, there is a concern in the hospitality industry that already there has been an impact on bookings for Christmas and events," said the mayor.
"There's also been an impact on hotel reservations. I think it's important that we put a view out from our perspective so that we don't get back to where we were last year, where the industry was struggling, as we know.
"We don't believe given the current evidence, though we stress it may chance as we learn more about Omicron, that there is a need for people to overreact.
"People should get in the habit of taking regular lateral flow tests. But if the right measures are taken and people are careful, there is no reason for people to cancel events or bookings.
"We would encourage people not to do that as long as they are also taking those necessary precautions."
"Of course, it's a matter of choice, we understand that," he added.
"But we also want to ensure that we help our hospitality industry recover after a very difficult 18 months.
"Already the signs are that there has been an impact following recent announcements."
Those precautions include more social distancing, mask wearing, hand sanitising and more regular lateral flow testing - 'sensible stuff to do at this time given the likely spread of Omicron', said the mayor.
"Those precautions will actually protect the Christmas period and people's ability to socialise. And allow us to have a more normal Christmas than perhaps we were able to do last year.
"The figures in Greater Manchester have moved in the right direction in recent weeks. However, we are now in a new position with the arrival Omicron and we are being cautious."
