British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has introduced rigorous measures to contain the new COVID-19 variant in England, ordering people to work from home, wear face masks in public and use vaccine passes to slow the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Johnson said on Wednesday that Omicron was fast spreading and his only choice was to move to “Plan B” while a vaccine booster program rolls out.
While still a long way from the full lockdowns imposed earlier in the pandemic, the new measures were described as a “hammer blow” for city center restaurants, cafes, and shops that are desperate for Christmas trade to rebuild their finances.
Many lawmakers in Johnson’s own party are not happy with the new restrictions, fearing the effect they will have after the economy shrank by a historic 10% last year.
“While the picture may get better, and I sincerely hope that it will, we know that the remorseless logic of exponential growth could lead to a big rise in hospitalizations and therefore, sadly, in deaths,” Johnson told a news conference.
Johnson, who lifted most COVID restrictions in England in July following a rapid vaccine rollout, had pledged to navigate the winter without resorting to a fourth COVID-19 lockdown but had kept a “Plan B” in reserve.
He said there was a need to implement Plan B after 568 cases of Omicron were found in the country, with data suggesting its doubling time for infections could be between two and three days.