U.K. Rules Out Tighter Covid Restrictions Before New Year

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. government won’t introduce stricter Covid-19 restrictions in England before the end of the year despite the rapid spread of the omicron variant.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he’s monitoring the latest data and urged people to be careful, particularly at New Year celebrations. 

His comments came as the U.K. reported 98,515 new coronavirus cases on Monday. While that’s the first reading below 100,000 in almost a week, the figures have been affected by spotty data over the Christmas holidays.

“We don’t think there’s any need for any further measures until the New Year, but we will keep that under review,” Javid said in comments broadcast on Sky News on Monday. “We’ll watch the situation very carefully, and should in the future we need to act, we won’t hesitate to do so.”

The worry is that the health service gets overwhelmed by the explosion in Covid cases driven by the highly-transmissable omicron strain. Infections have jumped by more than a quarter of a million in the past week, heaping pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to respond. 

The U.K.’s devolved administrations have already toughened their rules, with changes coming into effect Monday in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

While many experts say Johnson needs to do more in England, he’s facing backlash within his own party over curbs.

“When we get into the new year, of course, we’ll see then whether we do need to take any further measures, but nothing until then at least,” Javid said.

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