BORIS Johnson has tonight ruled OUT another lockdown for now – with no plans to shut businesses or schools amid Omicron.
The PM insisted that he will recommend to Cabinet tomorrow the nation should retain Plan B measures of masks, working from home and Covid passes.
And he said it was very unlikely he would have to lock down the entire country again to get a curb on cases thanks to our smashing vaccine rollout.
As omicron is “milder than previous variants” the huge numbers of people catching the virus is not translating into people going into intensive care, the PM said.
At tonight’s Downing Street New Year press conference he said: “We have a chance to ride out this omicron wave without shutting down our businesses once again.
“We can keep our schools and businesses open and find a way to live with this virus.”
In other news at tonight’s press conference:
- The PM said it will become “the norm” for people to need three jabs to travel to other countries quarantine-free
- Footie fans and nightclubbers may soon need three jabs to be able to use a Covid passport here in the UK
- Chris Whitty warned that one in 25 people in England now have Covid – and that figure is set to go up
- But in hugely positive news, a booster jab gives a person 88 per cent protection against hospitalisation
- Daily Covid tests will be dished out to 100,000 critical workers to keep the nation running
- 218,000 positive Covid tests were recorded today – yet another new record
But he warned that nine million people who are eligible still haven’t come forward for their jabs.
Worryingly, nearly two in three in intensive care have not been vaccinated at all.
And he insisted that “anyone who thinks our battle with Covid is over is, I’m afraid, profoundly wrong” and now was a “moment for the utmost caution”.
But he vowed to keep a close eye on the data as “the NHS is now under intense pressure”.
Any further restrictions would “damage life changes, people’s mental health and to the economy”, the PM warned, playing down the prospect he would bring in any new rules – like seen in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
He insisted his approach was the “right balance, and the right one for omicron”, stressing: “we have to stick with Plan B.”
The PM said he couldn’t rule anything out in future but stressed: “at the moment, it depends.
“It depends on whether the virus will behave in perhaps the way it has behaved in South Africa, how it goes through.
“We have a good chance of getting through the omicron wave without the need for further restrictions.
“And without the need, certainly, for a lockdown.
“Further restrictions are not cost free.
“These are very, very difficult things to do and have long term consequences.
“We think the balanced approach we are taking is the right one.”
He insisted was in a position to play down the concept of new restrictions, because so many Brits have been vaccinated.
And the “single best thing” Brits could do to help the nation was to get their vaccines as soon as possible, he pleaded.
