Hospital admissions in England could reach record levels if tougher covid restrictions are not implemented, experts have warned.
Plans are reportedly in the process of being drawn up for a two week circuit breaker lockdown after Christmas to help stop the spread of the Omicron variant.
It comes just ten days after Boris Johnson introduced Plan B measures which included making masks mandatory in some settings and changes to the rules around working from home.
READ MORE: Date two week circuit breaker lockdown could come into force
Despite a ramping up of efforts to offer booster jabs to all adults by the end of December, scientists have warned it will not take effect quickly enough to prevent what could be as many as 3,000 hospital admissions each day in England by the end of the year.
The Prime Minister has previously described the rollout and Plan B measures as the "right mixture" of approach.
But a document from the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, Operational sub-group (SPI-M-O) dated Wednesday and published on Saturday, warned that without further measures, figures in England could hit a "minimum of 2,000 hospital admissions per day at their peaks, with some scenarios having significantly worse outcomes during the first few months of 2022".
They advised that in order to prevent "such a wave of hospitalisations, more stringent measures would need to be implemented before 2022".
The experts stated that it is "highly likely" there will be between 1,000 and 2,000 hospital admissions per day in England by the end of the year, and that many of these "are already 'in the system' due to the lags between infection, symptom onset, and the subsequent need for health care".
They added: "The recently announced expanded and expedited booster vaccination programme will not dampen transmission or disease progression in time to mitigate these hospital admissions for the rest of 2021."
The modellers said such high levels of hospital admissions would "almost certainly lead to unsustainable pressure on health and care settings" and added that even if disease was mild there would be consequences such as absences from work or school.
It comes amid warnings that 50,000 NHS doctors, nurses and staff could be off sick with the variant by Christmas Day.
The Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling suggested that to "significantly reduce" the peak of such a wave, more stringent restrictions than those currently in place under Plan B would be needed.
One scenario considered action equivalent to Step Two of the Government's road map out of lockdown earlier this year, which saw hospitality venues serve people outdoors, and limits on social mixing, being taken.
On Saturday, it was reported by that officials are 'drawing up plans' for two-weeks of tougher restrictions which would include a ban on indoor mixing except for work purposes.
The proposals would see England return to restrictions last seen in April but Boris Johnson is yet to approve the plans and insisted yesterday he was not 'closing things down'.
