Britain debates pre-Christmas lockdown amid Covid-19 surge

LONDON • The British government kept open the prospect of a Christmas lockdown to arrest a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases as Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces opposition from within his Cabinet to further restrictions.

Mr Johnson's scientific advisers have recommended bringing in tougher rules "very soon" to keep hospitalisations from escalating to thousands a day.

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies said last week limits on household mixing and the closing of hospitality venues could "substantially reduce" the peak in cases.

"We can't make hard, fast guarantees," Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told BBC Radio yesterday when asked if he could rule out a lockdown over the festive period. "We have to keep the evidence viewed on an hour-by-hour and day-by-day basis."

He added: "In assessing the situation we rely very heavily on the real data coming through and it will take a little bit more time to assess this critical issue of the severity of Omicron."

Twelve people in Britain with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus have died, Mr Raab said.

Britain has reported record levels of Covid-19 cases, with officials and ministers warning that the full effects of the latest wave are still yet to be seen.

Omicron, first detected last month in southern Africa and Hong Kong, has raced around the globe and so far been reported in at least 89 countries. It is known to be very transmissible, but the severity of illness it causes remains unclear.

In addition to the 12 deaths, Mr Raab said 104 people were currently in hospital with Omicron.

Officials warned last week that hospitalisations could hit new highs as the effects of the latest surge work their way through the population.

Any decision to limit how people can celebrate Christmas would come at a high political cost for Mr Johnson, whose authority has been undermined by questions over whether he and his staff broke lockdown rules last year.

Mr Johnson also suffered a huge rebellion in Parliament last week as lawmakers from his own party pushed back hard against a tightening of Covid-19 rules.

To pass the new rules, which included ordering people to wear masks in public places, Mr Johnson had to rely on the support of the main opposition Labour Party.

Divisions in Mr Johnson's Cabinet over Covid-19 policy came to a head over the weekend when Mr David Frost, the minister in charge of post-Brexit negotiations, quit, citing the government's pandemic restrictions among his reasons.

The Times yesterday said at least 10 Cabinet ministers oppose pre-Christmas curbs.

"I left the government because, as I think is well known, I couldn't support certain policies, most recently on Covid restrictions," Mr Frost told Sky News. "If you're a minister, you have to support collective responsibility, you have to support decisions of the government, and I couldn't, so that's why I had to leave."

The scale of Conservative opposition to more curbs was put into stark focus last week, when more than 100 of Mr Johnson's Members of Parliament opposed the introduction of Covid-19 passes to gain entry to venues and large events - the biggest rebellion of his tenure.

The measure was approved only because of support from the opposition Labour Party.

Meanwhile, Europe's biggest countries are introducing more curbs to fight a surge in Covid-19 infections, from another lockdown in the Netherlands to stricter travel restrictions at the height of the holiday period.

Germany designated Britain as a virus variant area from yesterday, the highest risk category, requiring incoming travellers to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine, regardless of their vaccination status.

France is considering health passes at work.

Italy's government will hold an emergency meeting on Thursday and may look at options such as requiring masks outdoors, shortening the validity of vaccine certificates, and possibly requiring inoculated people as well as the unvaccinated to take Covid-19 tests to access large events, according to people familiar with the matter.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS