Health secretary Sajid Javid has refused to rule out further Covid restrictions before Christmas, saying: “There are no guarantees in this pandemic”.
His remarks came after government scientists said that tougher Covid restrictions are needed before the new year to prevent “considerable pressure” on the NHS, as rates of the Omicron variant surge.
Documents released over the weekend by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) – revealing the bleak advice given to ministers – emerged as the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, declared a “major incident” due to rising infections.
On Saturday, the government’s official dashboard recorded 90,418 cases of Covid in the UK in the last 24 hours, while 900 patients had been admitted to hospital. In the capital, 25,551 infections were recorded in a single day.
But the minutes published from a Sage meeting on Thursday stressed that “it is almost certain that there are now hundreds of thousands of new Omicron infections per day” – with the highest rates in London – suggesting that the official figures do not reflect the full picture.
Asked on the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme to rule out measures before Christmas, Mr Javid replied: “We are assessing the situation, it’s very fast moving, we’ve seen with Omicron there is a lot we still don’t know — that’s the truth about the matter.
“The reality is there is a lot of uncertainty, there are gaps in the data,” the health secretary said.
Pressed explicitly whether he could rule out a circuit breaker or further restrictions before Christmas — in just under a week — he said: “There are no guarantees in this pandemic, I don’t think. At this point we just have to keep everything under review.”
The cabinet minister said now was the “time to be more cautious” and urged people to take lateral flow tests before attending events in the coming days.
Describing the minutes from Sage as a “very sobering analysis”, he added: “We take it very seriously. We do have to challenge data and underlying assumptions, I think that is appropriate, and take into account a broader set of facts.”
When it was suggested to him he was not ruling out a circuit-breaker or new restrictions before
Earlier, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said rates of Covid were surging in the capital leading him to declare a major incident and suggested on Sunday further measures were “inevitable”.
He also demanded a “major, major package” of financial support for the hospitality industry if the UK government decides news restrictions are needed.
“If we don’t bring in new restrictions sooner rather than later, you’re going to see even more positive cases, and potentially public services like the NHS on the verge of collapse, if not collapsing,” he said.
Speaking on Sky News, professor Sir Mark Walport, the government’s former chief scientific adviser, said he believed measures beyond “plan B”, which includes the mandatory use of face masks and Covid passes, were needed.
He said infections are “rising fast” and there needs to be time allowed for recently administered vaccines and boosters to take effect.
He said: “We need to act to hold down the rate of hospital admissions, reduce the pressure on the workforce – and of course a lot of people are off sick at the moment – and most importantly of all, give people the chance to get vaccinated, to get boosted, and allow time for those vaccinations to have effect.”
