Britain’s health minister has refused to rule out imposing tougher COVID-19 restrictions before Christmas amid the rapid rise of infections and continuing uncertainty about the omicron variant.
The United Kingdom recorded 12,133 more cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus on Sunday, a 21 percent jump on the day before. The total number of Omicron cases is now at 37,101.
Britain’s health minister Sajid Javid said Sunday that the government was assessing the fast-moving situation and urged the public to be cautious as scientists examine the data. He said there is still much that is unknown about the new variant, even as hospitals brace for a surge in infections.
Javid said the government believed around 60 percent of new COVID-19 cases in England were now the Omicron variant.
“There are no guarantees in this pandemic, I don’t think,” Javid replied when asked about the potential for new restrictions, reports the Associated Press. “At this point, we just have to keep everything under review.”
Javid said the government was taking the “sobering” advice of its scientists seriously, was watching the data on an “almost hourly basis” and would balance that against the broader impact of restrictions on things such as businesses and education.
As Reuters notes, more than 100 of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s own Conservative lawmakers voted against the government’s latest measures to tackle the spread of COVID-19 earlier this week, and Johnson is facing his own crisis that could topple his role as leader.
When Javid was asked if Johnson was too weak to bring in further restrictions, Javid said: “No, I don’t think that’s the case … if the government felt that further action had to be taken, of course, we would present that to parliament and it would be for parliament to decide.”
He also confirmed that Parliament would be recalled over the Christmas break if the government wanted to introduce further restrictions, reports The Independent.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he thought new restrictions were inevitable otherwise the health service would be on the verge of collapse under the joint pressures of staff shortages and increased hospitalizations.
On Saturday, Mayor Kahn declared a major incident in the city, a move that allows local councils in Britain’s capital to coordinate more closely with emergency services.
