‘Plan B’ measures were introduced from Friday 10 December onwards, including advice to work from home and mandatory face coverings in public indoor venues such as cinemas, theatres and places of worship, as well as shops.
The UK has seen a sharp rise in cases of Covid-19 since the beginning of November 2021, and with the arrival of the Omicron variant, the government has been forced to reassess the UK’s current guidelines.
The booster programme was also accelerated, with 750 armed forces personnel drafted in to support the roll-out. As of yesterday (17 December), 26.3 million adults over the age of 18 in the UK have received their booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
However, after a few days of record-breaking daily case numbers, with an additional 93,045 infections reported on Friday, experts have warned the Government that more measures are needed to avoid an increase in hospitalisations.
A number of West End productions, gigs, football and rugby matches set to take place this weekend have already been cancelled and postponed.
In London, Mayor Sadiq Khan has declared a major incident over the surge in Omicron cases in the capital.
Yesterday (17 December), it was reported that leaked minutes from a Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) meeting had advised the introduction of stricter measures to stop hospital admissions reaching 3,000 per day.
Officials are reportedly now drawing up plans for the implementation of a lockdown to combat the alarming rise in cases. So, what would a circuit-breaker lockdown look like?
The Financial Times reported that Boris Johnson was presented with a range of options under a so-called Plan C, ranging from “mild guidance to nudge people, right through to lockdown”.
The BBC reported experts had recommended moving to restrictions seen in steps one and two of easing lockdown restrictions earlier this year. This would mean banning indoor mixing and indoor hospitality.
It has also reportedly been proposed that the lockdown would last for two weeks and would start after Christmas. Potentially, this means that the UK could go into a two-week circuit-breaker lockdown starting between 27 and 30 December.
In Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford has announced further restrictions including the closure of nightclubs from 27 December.
In leaked minutes seen by the BBC, Sage experts also warned against delaying further interventions until 2022.
The Times reported that draft regulations were being prepared which could ban meeting others indoors with the exception of work purposes, and that pubs and restaurants would be limited to outdoor service only, for two weeks after Christmas.
Professor Stephen Reicher, a member of Sage, told Times Radio on Sunday that “all the science suggests that (Plan B is) not going to be enough”.
He continued: “The only way really, or at least the most effective way, we can have an immediate effect is to decrease the number of contacts we have.
“In many ways, the most effective way of diminishing contact is to have a circuit-breaker.
“Now, you could have it after Christmas, the problem is after Christmas it’s probably too late, it’s probably by then we will have had a huge surge of infections with all the impact upon society.
“When people say ‘look, we don’t want to close down’, of course, we don’t want to close down. But the problem is at the moment, things are closing down anyway, because of the spread of infection.
“So I think we need to act now.”
The chairman of the NHS Confederation, Lord Victor Adebowale, supported a proposed circuit-breaker lockdown, telling Times Radio: “I would support the circuit-breaker. My members would support the circuit-breaker.
“We’ve been calling for Plan B for some time now and we’re glad that it was voted through. I think the Government has to be prepared to recall Parliament if further interventions are needed.”
He added: “The fact of the matter is we should be taking the precautionary principle. We should be protecting our NHS and our public services. We have no economy without health.”
