Livingstone says he would keep country in ‘perpetual’ lockdown

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The Omicron coronavirus variant has proven to be much more transmissible than the Delta variant, with cases in the UK reaching 93,045 on Friday, the highest number since the pandemic began. But with ongoing uncertainty about the severity of the variant, coupled with concerns for livelihoods and the economy, what rules might yet be imposed on the public, and when could we see another lockdown imposed?

When is the next Covid rules review?

Rules to prevent the spread of Covid – which differ across the four nations of the UK – are under constant review.

However, the next official Government review is due to take place on Tuesday, December 21.

Ministers will meet to discuss ‘plan B’ rules in place, which include testing, face coverings and Covid passes.

Given the numbers of this wave, it is not expected that rules will be eased.

Might there be another lockdown?

Speculation is rife that the Prime Minister is planning a ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown after Christmas.

Leaked minutes from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), seen by the BBC, reportedly said scientists had told ministers that tougher measures need to be brought in “very soon”.

The minutes said: “The timing of such measures is crucial.

“Delaying until 2022 would greatly reduce the effectiveness of such interventions and make it less likely that these would prevent considerable pressure on health and care settings.”

Sage experts have advised measures equivalent to those in place after Step Two or Step One of the roadmap in England, and say that if enacted early enough, the measures “could substantially reduce the peak in hospital admissions and infections compared with Plan B alone”.

Step One and Two of the roadmap for easing lockdown – which was in place in England in the Spring – banned indoor social contact and indoor hospitality.

Step Three allowed six people, or two households, to meet indoors and indoor hospitality could reopen.

The leaked minutes show modelling indicating hospital admissions could peak at at least 3,000 a day in England without further measures.

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Other parts of the UK have implemented stricter Covid rules.

Scotland has asked people to limit social contact to three households at a time in the run-up to Christmas, while Wales has ordered nightclubs to close from December 27.

On Friday, the UK saw another record number of daily Covid cases for the third day in a row, with more than 93,000 infections announced.

But there was also a record 861,306 booster and third dose jabs announced – the highest daily total so far.

Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson told the BBC that true numbers of infections were likely to be much higher than those officially reported.

He said there are concerns “we’ll be heading into something which has the risk of overwhelming the public health service”.

He said experts would know more about the new Omicron variant in the next weeks.

But initial research has shown that a Covid booster shot could provide around 85 percent protection against severe illness.

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