Sajid Javid confirms 'there is no need to move away from Plan B' as he rules out more restrictions hours before push
SAJID Javid today said there is no need to introduce further Covid restrictions and move away from Plan B at this time.
The Health Secretary insisted there was nothing in the data to suggest more rules were needed – just hours before the Prime Minister was due to brief the nation at 5pm.
Boris Johnson will speak to Britons for the first time this year as he considers whether more lockdown rules are needed to curb cases.
The Prime Minister will address the nation on the latest Omicron data at 5pm with top docs Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance.
The Prime Minister said yesterday that Omicron is “clearly milder” than previous variants, after studies showing it is up to 70 percent less severe.
A third jab also significantly reduces the risk of becoming seriously ill – and The Sun's Jab's Army campaign is helping to get vital boosters into people's arms.
Speaking to broadcasters after a visit to a vaccination center in south London, Mr Javid said: “There is nothing in the data at the moment that suggests we need to move away from Plan B.
“I think Plan B, in implementing that, has been the right approach and it is absolutely focused on the vaccination programme.”
Mr Javid noted that “it's fantastic to reach over 75% of eligible adults getting a boost”, but stressed that “we still need to reach that other 25% and that can really make a difference in the way this country gets through this pandemic.”
Despite rising cases of super-pressure, ministers are increasingly confident that hospitals will not become overwhelmed as feared.
Mr Johnson is even facing calls to relax the rules by cutting isolation time from seven to five days to ease the pressure of staff absences.
Meanwhile, children face chaos on their first day of school as the teacher shortage threatens more closures and a return to damaging remote learning.
For important developments:
- Millions of students will wear masks in classrooms when they return today
- Scientists were “cautiously optimistic” that Covid was leveling off in London
- Ministers played down fears that the booster rollout would slow
- A vaccine guru said the worst days of the pandemic are “behind us”.
Johnson is resisting furious calls from Tory MPs to shorten the isolation period from seven to five days to help speed up the return to work.
Ministers say this could have a spectacular backfire and potentially lead to more infections overall.
Ms Throup said: “We do not feel it is appropriate to reduce the disease any further as we are very concerned that people will still be contagious and can pass on the disease.”
The Prime Minister is meeting with officials this morning to review the latest data ahead of the decision not to take any further damaging measures.
He is expected to stick to the plan of working from home, indoor masks and Covid passports – and boosters – when Parliament returns tomorrow.
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Ahead of the announcement, Mr Javid said: “There is nothing in the data at the moment that suggests we need to move away from Plan B.
“I think Plan B, in implementing that, has been the right approach and it is absolutely focused on the vaccination programme.”
POSITIVE DATA
Ministers and experts have become increasingly optimistic that the doomsday scenarios of flooded hospitals will be avoided.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said hospital admissions “may appear to be at a plateau in London”.
Top expert Prof Neil Ferguson also believes interest rates in the capital could level off after a Christmas peak.
He said: “I think I am cautiously optimistic that infection rates in London in the key 18 to 50 age group, which caused the Omicron epidemic, may have stabilised. It is still too early to say whether they are already declining. .”
And Sir Andrew Pollard, head of Oxford's vaccines department, praised that “the worst is definitely behind us. We just have to get through the winter.”
A further 157,758 Covid cases were recorded yesterday and a further 42 deaths.
Although the Omicron is clearly milder, the sheer number of cases has forced large numbers of workers into isolation, wreaking havoc on sectors and schools.
Ministers have reportedly been asked to submit plans on whether the military is likely to be needed to fill shortages in their areas.
The Prime Minister's spokesperson said: “All departments have been asked to look at how they could reduce the large-scale absenteeism of their relevant workforce, up to 25%.
“In some circumstances it may be necessary for a Maca request to be made, a request for military assistance, but in other circumstances this may not be the case.
“There is no blanket requirement for military assistance.”