Speaking on The Andrew Marr show this morning, Health Secretary Sajid Javid refused to rule out the possibility of further restrictions being introduced before Christmas this year.
The health secretary said, “there are no guarantees” when it comes to Covid-19 and the spread of the Omicron variant.
This follows the news of a possible ‘Circuit Breaker’ type lockdown which was reported yesterday, December 18.
Reports suggest that Ministers are currently debating how to tackle the spread of the Omicron variant and are apparently considering a two-week circuit breaker lockdown.
Boris Johnson was presented with several options that fall under "Plan C" on Friday, December 17, the Financial Times reported.
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READ MORE: Is Boris Johnson making an announcement today? What we know
These measures range from “mild guidance to nudge people, right through to lockdown”.
When asked by Andrew Marr if he was not ruling out a circuit breaker or other restriction being brought in before Christmas, Javid was unable to rule this out.
He said: “There are no guarantees in this pandemic. At this point, we have to keep everything under review.”
He added: "We are assessing the situation, it is very fast-moving. We’ve seen with Omicron there’s a lot that we still don’t know about Omicron.
"That’s the truth of the matter. The reality is there’s a lot of uncertainty."
What could Plan C restrictions involve?
This comes as minutes from Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), seen by the BBC, have also been leaked which say that scientists have informed ministers that further restrictions will need to be brought in “very soon”.
Advisers have recommended that we move to restrictions seen in steps one and two of the easing of lockdown restrictions in the spring, according to the BBC report.
This would include a ban on indoor mixing and indoor hospitality.
Boris Johnson has warned Omicron is “a very serious threat to us now”.
On a visit to a vaccination centre in Hillingdon, west London, on Friday, he said: “We are seeing a considerable wave coming through and people have got to be prepared and they have got to understand what it entails.”
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