Boris Johnson said tonight that Christmas may go ahead cautiously, but that additional restriction might be announced in as little as 48 hours, jeopardizing New Year's party preparations.
According to reports, a fortnight-long circuit-breaker lockdown could be imposed within days - possibly as early as December 27 - limiting mass events, prohibiting different households from mixing indoors, and hampering the hospitality industry by limiting pubs and restaurants to outdoor service only.
Boris Johnson says no new restrictions before Christmas
A step like this would be comparable to the 'Step 2' limits in last winter's road map out of lockdown and would very definitely necessitate Johnson recalling Parliament, which would take two days.
Any circuit breaker, even if it just lasted two, three, or four weeks, would be terrible for companies already affected by the Omicron outage, and would derail millions of people's New Year's plans. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is one of at least three Cabinet ministers pressing for a thorough review of the economic consequences of further limitations, Daily Mail reported.
Another 90,629 COVID-19 cases were reported in the UK in the last 24 hours, including 172 deaths. A total of 60,508 Omicron infections have been verified, increasing the total to 60,363. However, the rate of spread appears to be slower than previously anticipated.
Johnson said in a video posted on Tuesday that the government couldn't rule out more restrictions after Christmas and promised to "do everything it takes" to secure the nation's health. He went on to say that there wasn't enough information to support any stricter precautions before Christmas because of the persistent uncertainty about Omicron's severity and the impact of vaccination.
People may go on with their Christmas activities, he added, but they should be careful, and he reiterated his call for everyone to receive a booster shot, as per BBC. New limits were issued earlier in Scotland, where residents had previously been urged to limit their socializing in the run-up to Christmas. All outdoor activities will be limited to 500 people for at least three weeks beginning December 26 while inside events such as concerts will be limited to 200 people sitting or 100 people standing.
Wales has already stated that sports events would be staged without crowds beginning on Boxing Day while London's New Year's Eve extravaganza in Trafalgar Square has been canceled.
Boris Johnson distrusted
Wales will also down nightclubs on December 27, with additional details on post-Christmas plans to be announced on Wednesday. There is a 30-person limit on people mixing from different households in homes in Northern Ireland, and another announcement is expected on Wednesday.
According to new research, nearly six out of ten Britons (59%) distrust Boris Johnson as a source of counsel on COVID-19, which is higher than distrust of information from social media. As a result of rumors of Christmas parties at No 10 - including 37% of the younger 18-34 age groups who are most likely to rush into bars and clubs in the coming weeks - nearly one-third of people (28%) stated they are less inclined to obey COVID-19 guidelines.
Per The Independent, it was discovered that many Britons act before the government tells them to. One in ten people said they had already canceled their plans for Christmas Day while a quarter said they had toned them back due to Omicron fears.
It also revealed a strong desire for far stricter restrictions than those imposed by the government so far. Only 26% of the 2,096 respondents polled indicated they would support a two-week "circuit-breaker" lockdown of the sort proposed by famous scientists while 50% said they would support it. The percentage of those in favor and opposing a total stay-at-home lockdown for an extended period was 38 percent for and 38 percent against.
Related Article: Boris Johnson's Leadership in Jeopardy as Lord Frost's Resignation Sparks Fresh Tory Concern Amid UK's COVID-19 Omicron Battle
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