Cases of Covid-19 in the UK are rapidly rising, prompting concerns over case numbers in the run-up to Christmas.
The spread of the omicron variant has already prompted the tightening of restrictions around mask wearing and travel, and Boris Johnson will hold a press conference on Wednesday evening amid speculation he could introduce tighter “plan B” restrictions.
When is Boris Johnson’s next announcement due to happen?
It is thought that the prime minister might announce “plan B” Covid measures when he holds a press confernece on Wednesday evening.
The press conference at 6pm will be broadcast on BBC News (which can also be viewed on BBC iPlayer) and Sky News. Mr Johnson’s last update came on Tuesday 30 November, when he addressed the nation and confirmed the extended roll-out of booster vaccines to combat the newly circulating Omicron variant.
What would “plan B” restrictions be?
The so-called “plan B” restrictions were first outlined by ministers in the summer and would include new guidance to work from home if possible. Covid passes could also be introduced for crowded venues such as nightclubs.
However, Downing Street sources said “no decisions have been made” on “plan B” ahead of the meeting, leaving the possibility that Mr Johnson will hold back from imposing any new curbs.
The prime minister’s former chief adviser at No 10, Dominic Cummings, said that the move towards “plan B” would be a “dead cat” strategy.
According to the government’s Covid autumn and winter plan, which was published in September, the “plan B” strategy would “only be enacted if the data suggests further measures are necessary to protect the NHS.”
The plan stated that measures would include a mandatory vaccine-only Covid status certification in certain settings. These would be in venues such as nightclubs and indoor crowded venues with 500 or more people in attendance.
The plan also proposed the return of work from home guidance.
Why do we need more restrictions?
With the highly transmissible omicron variant already circulating in the UK, restrictions such as home working could slow the rise in case numbers.
Increased restrictions could be put into place to help prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed.
Work from home has been praised by the Sage committee who underlined how the measure had played an “important role in preventing sustained epidemic growth” prior to the relaxation of Covid restrictions.
Will there be another lockdown?
A member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said today that a UK-wide lockdown to deal with omicron could not be ruled out.
Professor Neil Ferguson, from Imperial College London said that although the variant is concerning, it is still not known what its impact will be on severe disease.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme Professor Ferguson said cases of the omicron variant were doubling “at least every days, maybe even every two days at the moment”, adding: “It’s likely to overtake Delta before Christmas at this rate, precisely when is hard to say.
When asked if he thought people should be told to work from home, he said: “It will be up to the government to decide what to announce in the coming days and weeks.
“There is a rationale, just epidemiologically, to try and slow this down, to buy us more time principally to get boosters into people’s arms, because we do think people who are boosted will have the best level of protection possible, but also to buy us more time to really better characterise the threat.
“So, if you imagine a kind of plan B plus with working from home might slow it down – it wouldn’t stop it but it could slow it down, so it’s doubling rather than every two or three days, every five or six days.
“That doesn’t seem like a lot, but it actually is potentially a lot in terms of allowing us to characterise this virus better and boost population immunity.”
Why suddenly call a press conference today?
News of the meeting has been met by scepticism by Westminster insiders.
They have suggested that the timing may have been calculated to distract attention away from damaging headlines over an alleged lockdown-breaking Christmas party at 10 Downing Street last year.
