Boris Johnson switches to plan B to control the spread of Omicron

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Boris Johnson on Wednesday unveiled sweeping new coronavirus restrictions to combat the rapid spread of the Omicron variant as he apologized “unreservedly” for a leaked video that showed his aides joking about Christmas parties during lockdown.

The new restrictions imposed on England include guidelines for working from home from Monday, while masks will be mandatory for all indoor spaces from Friday except for pubs and restaurants.

Covid passports will be offered to large indoor and outdoor gatherings, while Johnson is also flirting with the idea of ​​greater coercion for vaccines to avoid an endless cycle of restrictions.

He said a “national conversation” was needed and the country could not “go on indefinitely with restrictions on people’s lifestyle just because so many people haven’t been vaccinated.”

Justifying the new restrictions, which he called “proportionate and responsible,” Johnson said: “We know that the ruthless logic of exponential growth can lead to a significant increase in hospitalizations and, unfortunately, in deaths.”

Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, warned that the Omicron variant was spreading “extraordinarily fast” with infections doubling every two to three days. There are currently 568 variant cases in the UK, but the true number is believed to be much higher.

Early projections of how Omicron will spread, which were submitted to the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies, suggested daily hospitalization “could reach 1,000 per day or more in England by the end of the year” and continue the upward trend.

Without any interventions, the magnitude of the winter peak “could reach several times this level,” according to the minutes of the official meeting released on Wednesday. “The peak is likely to be higher than 1,000 to 2,000 admissions to Omicron Hospital per day without intervention to slow the rate at which infection increases.” Committee noted.

The latter restrictions were introduced much earlier than expected, leading a Conservative MP, William Wragg, to claim that they were being used as a “transformational tactic” to divert attention from Johnson’s political problems with the No. 10 parties. Johnson rejected this claim.

Sajid Javid, the health minister, was harassed with calls to “resign” in the House of Commons when he announced the new restrictions on MPs. Steve Baker, head of the Covid Recovery Group, warned lawmakers skeptical of the shutdown, of the restrictions “that could not be more dangerous to the future of our lives in this country.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak expressed his concerns at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting about the economic costs of further restrictions, but Michael Gove, the settlement minister, said he feared they did not go far enough, according to officials briefed on the meeting.

But the official added that Sunak was relieved that the hospitality industry was excluded from the Covid certification scheme as well as the new mask restrictions, adding: “Most of the measures are low-impact from an economic point of view.”

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Meanwhile, Johnson announced that Cabinet Secretary Simon Case would investigate media reports that a festive gathering was held at No. 10 on December 18 last year when London was under strict Covid-19 restrictions, and such parties were banned.

Allegra Stratton, a former spokeswoman for Johnson, resigned from her Downing Street position on Wednesday after a leaked government video showed the joke about last year’s Christmas party.

The Prime Minister apologized “unreservedly” for the offense caused by the videotape. “I understand and share the anger across the country when I saw Staff Number 10 seem to shed light on lockdown measures.”

Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer accused Johnson of “taking the public as fools” in relation to the Downing Street parties, stating that the facts were “clear as sleep”. “They knew there was a party, they knew it was against the rules, they knew they couldn’t admit it, and they thought it was funny,” he told the deputies.

Johnson added that following media reports, he was repeatedly told that there was no party in Downing Street and no Covid rules were being broken. He said any relevant evidence from the Case investigation would be handed over to the Metropolitan Police.

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However, the inquiry will not examine reports of other parties in Downing Street on November 13 and November 27, which would also have violated Covid restrictions on gatherings.

The Metropolitan Police announced Wednesday that it will not investigate the party’s allegations due to a “lack of evidence” and the force’s policy of not investigating retroactively violations of coronavirus regulations.

The new restrictions and Johnson’s handling of the row over Christmas parties tarnished his standing in the Conservative Party. One minister described the situation as “absolutely horrific”, adding: “I really feel alienated from it and can’t believe they let him get into this place.”

The minister added that MPs were increasingly debating whether Johnson’s time in office might be coming to an end. “In a way I’ve never heard of, colleagues I wasn’t expecting are talking about what the Prime Minister’s final match might be.”

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