Covid: Boris Johnson considers limit on household mixing at Christmas

Boris Johnson is mulling urging the public to limit household mixing at Christmas, according to reports.

The Prime Minister has been presented with three options by officials for further restrictions to curb the spread of Omicron, out of which the lowest level of action would see families asked to limit indoor contacts, without legal enforcement, the report said.

Johnson is also weighing mandate curbs on household mixing, the return of social distancing and an 8PM curfew on pubs and restaurants, it added. Option three is a full lockdown.

According to The Telegraph, Cabinet ministers have said the regulations would not be “stomached”

It comes after a disastrous week for Boris Johnson, after defeat in the North Shropshire by-election, continuing allegations regarding gatherings which broke lockdown guidelines and Lord Frost’s resignation as Brexit minister, with the newspaper reporting one Cabinet minister could follow Frost out the door should lockdown be reimposed.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid also refused to rule out introducing new restrictions ahead of Christmas.

Experts have stressed the importance of acting fast to tackle the spread of Omicron as an NHS boss warned that pressure on trusts in London is “mounting rapidly”.

A number of scientific advisers to the Government spoke on Sunday, a day after minutes were published from a meeting warning it was “almost certain” there were hundreds of thousands of new Omicron infections each day in England.

The update from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) also stated that UK hospital admissions with the variant were probably around one-tenth of the true number because of a lag in hospital reporting.

A further 82,886 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases have been recorded in the UK as of 9am on Sunday, the Government said. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said there had been 12,133 additional confirmed cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 reported across the UK.