Government officials are drafting bans on rallies and restaurants in England for two weeks after Christmas Day, according to a Times article.
The so-called "lockdown to break the Omicron circuit" is thought to be based on measures in place in England in the spring, when the country began easing the general ban.
This would mean a ban on meetings indoors except for business purposes and the operation of restaurants only in their open spaces with orders at the table. Retail stores and schools would remain open and while there would be no official order for people to stay at home, gatherings of only groups of six would be allowed and only open spaces.
The directive of strict isolation for the most vulnerable would return and a limit of 15-30 guests at weddings and funerals would be introduced.
According to the Times, the plans have not yet been considered at the ministerial level. But some newspaper sources say a possible revocation of the House of Commons is planned next week to discuss possible measures, with a deadline of December 27 or 28.
According to the Financial Times, Prime Minister Johnson has accepted a number of proposals, from issuing a mild recommendation to citizens to avoid rallies to a general lockdown.
Minutes from a meeting of the SAGE scientific committee advising the British government on Thursday, which leaked to the BBC, show that its members have told ministers that stricter measures should be adopted quickly to prevent the worst. As they mentioned, 2022 will be late.
Public health officials in Britain have been alarmed by computer models showing that daily hospital admissions due to Omicron could reach as high as 3 to 10 in January. At the moment it is about 900 per day on average. At the peak of the previous big wave of the pandemic, at the beginning of 2021, imports reached 4.000 per day. Models estimate that with measures like last spring, hospitalizations could be reduced to 1.500-5.000 per day.
Source: KYPE
