UK considers new Covid-19 measures

The UK is considering a two-week ban on people in England gathering indoors after Christmas to slow the omicron variant's spread, the Times reported, citing people it didn't identify.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson hasn't approved the plan, and advisers are waiting for more data about the new strain, the newspaper said. Johnson wants to review the impact of measures imposed over the past week, and may see no need to tighten rules further. Johnson will also convene the high-level emergency committee known as Cobra this weekend to finalise support for the UK's hospitality industry, which has seen Christmas-season bookings plummet.

Separately, the BBC said it had seen leaked minutes of a meeting of the government's scientific advisers calling for more stringent restrictions to be brought in "very soon" in a bid to stop the National Health Service from becoming overwhelmed.


With Christmas fast approaching, the UK's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said when it met on Thursday that without further restrictions, hospital admissions in England could peak at 3,000 a day or more, according to the BBC.