Will there be a lockdown after Christmas as Omicron circumstances rise?

The emergence of the Omicron variant is inflicting concern around the globe, not least as a result of it’s regarded as extremely transmissible and since the 32 mutations of its spike protein recommend it’d have the opportunity to withstand present vaccines.

The UK has recorded 14 deaths from the brand new variant thus far and greater than 60,000 confirmed circumstances, prompting fears that additional social restrictions may quickly be imposed on the British public.

However prime minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that no additional restrictions can be launched earlier than Christmas, explaining that “that individuals can go forward with their plans”, a choice that permits him to keep away from a repeat of his infamous handle of 19 December 2020, when he reluctantly imposed robust new measures on the final minute and dashed the festive hopes of hundreds of thousands.

Nevertheless, the PM additionally reiterated on Tuesday that he can’t rule out additional measures within the coming days, leaving open the opportunity of new controls on pubs and nightclubs by New 12 months’s Eve.

He was talking on the identical day as chancellor Rishi Sunak introduced £1bn in help for the hospitality business after clients cancelled reservations in droves in response to the most recent twist within the pandemic and his counterpart in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, introduced recent restrictions on sporting occasions and cancelled Edinburgh’s annual Hogmanay road celebration, having already requested Scots to maintain family mixing to a minimal.

‘Rule nothing out’

In his video message from Downing Road on Tuesday night, Mr Johnson mentioned: “We are able to’t rule out any additional measures after Christmas – and we’re going to maintain a continuing eye on the information, and we’ll do no matter it takes to guard public well being.”

The announcement got here a day after he informed reporters that the federal government was nonetheless deciding whether or not or to not impose additional preventative measures.

He mentioned ministers have been monitoring the information “hour by hour” and that the arguments for taking additional motion have been “very, very finely balanced”.

“Sadly I need to say to folks that we should reserve the opportunity of taking additional motion to guard the general public, to guard public well being, to guard our NHS,” he added.

“We’re taking a look at every kind of issues to maintain Omicron underneath management and we are going to rule nothing out.”

The prime minister is known to have been ready for extra information on the variant to turn out to be obtainable earlier than he decided, a stance that noticed him accused of “dithering” by scientists and his political opponents.

Against this, London mayor Sadiq Khan was decisive when he declared a serious incident over the extent of the outbreak within the capital whereas NHS England introduced a return to its highest stage of emergency preparedness, stage 4 nationwide incident, which means that the well being service’s response can be coordinated as a nationwide effort, somewhat than led by particular person trusts.

Total, the UK added one other 90,000 infections in 24 hours on Tuesday. That compares to about 27,000 circumstances this time final yr.

Chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance is alleged to have led the decision for recent measures to drive down an infection charges and ease the stress on the NHS.

Sir Patrick’s fellow advisers have been equally outspoken, with Professor Stephen Reicher, a member of the federal government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), warning that Omicron is “coming at us like an categorical prepare” and insisting that the federal government should give the general public a “good, clear message” about how “severe the disaster is”.

Plan C?

The prospect of introducing a two-week circuit-breaker lockdown after Christmas has been mooted – and seems more likely to be broadly well-liked with the general public – with plans made obtainable to ministers for consideration and apparently together with a ban on assembly others indoors aside from work functions and limiting pubs and eating places to out of doors service solely.

It’s clear the PM hopes the takeup of booster vaccines, together with the partial “Plan B” restrictions lately launched, can be sufficient to see off the risk.

As a part of these measures, Britons are at present once more being ordered to put on face masks in outlets, cinemas, theatres and locations of worship and on public transport, to earn a living from home order the place attainable.

The federal government has additional revised its strategy to boosters, planning to make them obtainable to all over-18s by the top of December and halving the period of time between second and third injections from six months to 3, all within the hope of staving off the scary “tidal wave” of infections we’re already starting to see.

Some type of “Plan C” – a circuit-breaker, or tighter restrictions – could possibly be needed if Omicron begins to disrupt the NHS over the festive season, however there’s little political urge for food for any form of fourth nationwide lockdown, even when it have been enforceable.

However Sage advisers have been unambiguous in calling for stricter curbs, with the influential Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial School London overtly entertaining the likelihood for a number of weeks.

The larger image

Even earlier than Omicron started to forged its sinister shadow throughout the globe, many Britons have been already glancing anxiously in direction of the continent as Austria and the Netherlands reintroduced lockdowns in response to spiking circumstances of Covid-19.

The World Well being Organisation (WHO) had mentioned it was “very apprehensive” concerning the unfold in Europe and warned 700,000 extra deaths could possibly be recorded by March except pressing motion is taken, bringing the full to 2.2 million because the pandemic started.

Previous to the most recent worrying developments sparked by Omicon, Mr Johnson’s authorities had been reluctant to reimpose restrictions in any respect, regardless of persistently excessive case numbers.

Whereas the vaccines have persistently stored dying charges low because the spring, an infection ranges have remained persistently excessive, usually hovering across the 40,000-per-day mark however in current days have been greater than double that.

Mr Johnson might also be involved that additional restrictons may result in social dysfunction, having seen anti-lockdown protests – a few of them violent – erupt in Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy and Croatia.

Londoners have been actually sad concerning the preliminary return of the masks mandate, accusing the PM of hypocrisy for declining to put on one himself at a number of public engagements.

Nevertheless, in different quarters, there seemed to be a transparent urge for food for brand new restrictions even earlier than Omicron, at the very least in keeping with the polls.

A current survey of 900 managers and 1,200 workers carried out by Hack Future Lab discovered 53 per cent would welcome a “festive lockdown” for the sake of their very own well-being after struggling to come back to phrases with the return to atypical working circumstances, usually discovering themselves compelled to tackle further duties to cowl for absent colleagues.

One other ballot by Savanta ComRes revealed 45 per cent of adults can be in favour of a selective lockdown concentrating on solely those that had declined to get their Covid jabs and due to this fact may pose an ongoing danger to others.

However, till Omicron threw a recent spanner into the works, there was a reputable case for believing that the UK was in such a robust place that it may keep away from the worst of the outbreak marauding throughout Europe.

Though Britain’s an infection charge has remained excessive for months, it has additionally been extremely secure till lately, lingering at a seven-day common of round 600 each day circumstances per million individuals, whereas Austria and the Netherlands have all of the sudden spiked to 1,500 and 1,250 respectively from effectively under that start line because the starting of October.

A part of the explanation for that is that the UK was hit by the extra infectious Alpha and Delta variants of the coronavirus sooner and was due to this fact in a position to deal with them forward of its European neighbours and unlock earlier.