Cabinet to meet over additional Covid curbs to slow Omicron spread
Cabinet ministers are to meet virtually this afternoon to discuss potential new measures to slow the spread of Omicron.
A meeting will be held at 2pm this afternoon, with the BBC reporting that officials will look at three options for fresh measures.
According to the BBC, the measures relate to different levels of severity: low, medium and high.
Options are thought to include a plea for multiple households to not mix over Christmas, according to the Telegraph newspaper.
A circuit breaker lockdown is also one of the options under discussion, it has been reported.
Another option is to introduce curbs on household mixing, the return of social distancing and an 8pm curfew on pubs and restaurants.
However, many Conservative MPs are expected to oppose tougher rules while it has been reported that several Cabinet ministers are also against tighter restrictions.
As of Monday afternoon, there was no announcement about the Prime Minister holding a press conference after the Cabinet meeting.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said the government “can’t make hard, fast guarantees” that there will not be a Christmas lockdown, speaking to BBC Radio 4 this morning.
“I’m not going to trail things when decisions haven’t been made,” he said, when asked whether the country should expect an announcement about more restrictions in the next few days.
“It’s fair to say we have to keep the evidence reviewed on an hour-by-hour and day-by-day basis,” he said.