Wedding and funerals will be exempt from any new Covid-19 Government-enforced restrictions, it has been revealed.
Further restrictions or even another lockdown have been rumoured ever since Omicron started taking hold in England.
Prime minister Boris Johnson was briefed today (December 27) by chief medical officer for England professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance on the latest coronavirus statistics.
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Reports suggest any new measures would be announced this week - but hopes are rising that no new restrictions will be imposed.
But even if new measures are brought in, weddings and funerals will not be included in the fresh curbs, The Times reports, Birmingham Mail reports.
Important events and get togethers like funerals and weddings will be excluded from restrictions no matter what, according to the newspaper.
First minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced tough measures for Scotland, as has Mark Drakeford for Wales.
The PM is also set to make a decision on potential Omicron curbs today, but ministers are said to be "increasingly optimistic" that measures will not be brought in.
A Whitehall source claimed: "It’s not just that there’s a clear gap between cases and hospitalisations, but also that when people are going into hospital they tend to be there for less time."
A return to step two measures would mean no indoor mixing and a rule of six outdoors for the hospitality sector to follow.
Schools would stay open, too, as would retail services like non essential shops.
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