A top Tory has said people can enjoy a "cautious" Christmas as Boris Johnson delayed a decision on imposing new restrictions.
Cabinet Office Minister Steve Barclay said he had scaled back his own Christmas celebrations but people could still go ahead with festive plans.
However he failed to rule out a circuit breaker lockdown after Christmas, saying the Government was still looking closely at the data on the new Omicron variant.
Mr Johnson is expected to bring in Covid curbs before New Year to tackle spiralling case numbers in England driven by the rapid spread of the new strain.
But the Prime Minister is not planning to impose new restrictions ahead of Christmas after delaying a crunch decision amid Cabinet opposition.
Speculation mounted on Monday that the PM might act this week when he called an emergency Cabinet meeting to update his top team on spiralling cases.
But the three-hour Cabinet meeting ended without any announcement.
The lack of clarity has provoked fury for businesses and families trying to decide whether to go ahead with their festive plans.
Mr Barclay told LBC: "We are saying to people that they should continue with Christmas but do so in a cautious way. That is what I will be doing with my own family.
"We can all protect our families and friends by having the booster."
Asked what a cautious Christmas is, he said: "I think it is thinking about how many people we need to see.
"Some of my family won't be coming over at Christmas. My wife's parents will be joining us but others will not."
Whitehall insiders have suggested the PM is considering a "circuit breaker" lockdown for up to four weeks from as early as December 27.
Mr Johnson is said to be looking at Step Two rules, which were in place in April and include a ban on indoor mixing and forcing pubs to serve outside.
Asked if a circuit-breaker was being considered, Mr Barclay said: "We are looking closely at the data, there is much we still don't know about the severity of Omicron, how it leads to hospital admissions.
"We are looking particularly at the London data, there is a higher prevalence of Omicron particularly in London."
The ongoing uncertainty has triggered anger as Christmas plans hang in the balance - and businesses face mass cancellations.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: "People just want to be able to plan ahead. For businesses this is essential.
"True to form the Prime Minister has chosen to protect himself from his own MPs by simply not saying anything."
Tory MP Dehenna Davison said: "I've had pubs and restaurants asking if they should place food and drink orders.
"I've had emails from people asking if they should postpone their wedding for the fifth time, or if they can see their mum at Christmas. We need some certainty."
But Sir Jeremy Farrar, a former member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, that the situation was extremely uncertain and ministers could wait a few days for more data.
He told the Today programme "each of us can do things today that will make the chance of further restrictions lighter".
He added: "Omicron is spreading unbelievably fast. It is a phenomenal variant transmission.
"There is great uncertainty about what is it going to lead to in terms of pressure on the health system, people going to hospital, particularly people dying, but also what impact is it going to have on the broader society, staff absences, the ability to have functioning other services, so there is great uncertainty.
"My personal view is that I think we can wait at the moment until there are more restrictions formally placed."
