New Covid Measures Before Christmas Not Ruled Out

NEW coronavirus measures before Christmas have not been ruled out by the Health Secretary, who said there are “no guarantees” following a “sobering analysis” from scientific advisers warning about the threat from Omicron.

Sajid Javid said while there remains uncertainty about the new variant, it is time to be “more cautious” amid the rapid spread of the strain.

His comments came as it was reported stricter measures could be imposed in light of the warning from experts that there are likely already hundreds of thousands of new infections every day.

Modelling from scientific advisers, published on Saturday, showed that if ministers stuck to the current Plan B measures, there could be a peak of 3,000 hospital admissions in England per day.

Advisers also said hospital admissions with the variant in the UK are “probably around one-tenth of the true number due to a lag in reporting.