Third super-mutant case found in UK – but ministers insist Xmas WON’T be hit
... and race is on to track down churchgoers and KFC customers
A THIRD case of the Omicron variant was discovered in Britain yesterday as Sajid Javid urged families to plan for Christmas ‘as normal’.
Ministers rejected calls for more lockdown restrictions as the Health Secretary said he hoped that within weeks he will be able remove the new mask mandate, which will come into force tomorrow.
But there were fears last night that the new strain may have been in Britain for ten days. Offinew cials investigating one of the first cases found in the UK are searching for potential contacts as far back as November 19.
Essex County Council said targeted testing was being focused on customers, staff and delivery drivers at a KFC in Brentwood on that day and congregants at a church two days later.
The Brentwood case is said to be linked to another infection in Nottingham, with that individual understood to have arrived from southern Africa before coming into contact with the person in Essex.
The Department of Health has declined to say when when the international travel took place.
Visitors to the KFC on Brentwood High Street between 1pm and 5pm on November 19 are being urged to take a PCR test immediately. Members of the congrega
‘Continue with Christmas plans’
tion who visited Trinity Church in Pilgrims Hatch on November 21 were issued with the same call by Essex County Council. They are being urged to attend mobile testing units, for drive-through appointments only.
Last night a third case was announced involving someone who visited London before leaving the country. The individual visited the borough of Westminster but is understood not to have travelled to Parliament or Whitehall.
Many people’s Christmas plans were ruined last year after the emergence of the Alpha variant, first identified in Kent, led to a last-minute change in the rules.
Mr Javid said yesterday that it was ‘nowhere near’ time to bring back lockdown measures in England, despite concerns about the strain of Covid-19. While conceding it ‘would be irresponsible to make guarantees’ during the ever-changing pandemic, he said: ‘I think people should continue with their plans as normal for Christmas, I think it’s going to be a great Christmas.’
The minister played down the prospect that social distancing rules or work-from-home guidance would need to be reintroduced. ‘We know now those types of measures do carry a very heavy price, both economically, socially, in terms of non-Covid health outcomes such as impact on mental health,’ he told Sky News. ‘So, if one was to make decisions like that they would have to be done very, very carefully and we’re not there yet, we’re nowhere near that.’
Regulations will be laid in Parliament today introducing measures from tomorrow to combat the spread of the Omicron variant. They will be in place for at least three weeks. Those who fail to wear a face covering in shops or on public transport in England will face a fine of £200, with maximum penalties of up to £6,400 for repeat offenders.
All travellers entering the UK will have to take a PCR test on the second day after their arrival and isolate until they receive a negative result. And anyone identified as a contact of a suspected Omicron case will have to isolate for ten days regardless of their vaccination status. MPs will be given a vote on the
regulations within 28 days, meaning they may not get a say until after they have been withdrawn.
Mark Harper, chairman of the Covid Recovery Group of lockdown-sceptics Tory MPs, last night demanded that a debate and vote should be held tomorrow. A number of backbench Tories may stage a rebellion, but it is thought unlikely Labour will oppose the restrictions, virtually guaranteeing they will pass.
how brittle our ancient and cherished liberties have suddenly become.
The pattern is now bleakly familiar. A troubling report about a new Covid variant. An instant clamour for sweeping restrictions and lockdowns from the freedom-hating Left. A hastily convened Downing Street press conference with the Prime Minister flanked by the grim centurions, Sir Patrick Vallance and Professor Chris whitty.
while the heart sank when Boris Johnson announced the latest raft of light-touch measures –with three cases of the omicron strain discovered here so far – we accept this is a sensible precaution.
As yet, experts are in the dark over the variant’s virulence and transmissibility. Nor do they know if it resists the vaccines.
So while the new curbs – compulsory face coverings in shops and on public transport, plus tougher testing and quarantine requirements for travellers – are irksome, they are pragmatic and proportionate.
Slowing the mutant’s spread gives scientists more time to investigate it. And it allows more people to get jabbed. we applaud the Government for offering boosters to every adult – an extra 13million – strengthening our resilience.
Now Mr Johnson must stay calm and not panic. we implore him: Not one more step towards a draconian lockdown without hard evidence of a real problem.
Britain and its economy are flourishing because of his courageous and commendable decision to lift all restrictions in July – even though doom-mongers insisted it would end in disaster.
Their apocalyptic warnings proved pitifully wide of the mark. But Mr Johnson must remember that even with hospitalisations and deaths still low, confidence is perilously fragile.
The shadow cast by the threat of antiCovid policies being reimposed damages business. Equally, drastically curtailing our liberties has a severe cost in terms of people’s physical and mental health.
Labour, as usual, has nothing serious to contribute. The Left’s hunger for lockdowns and state control – with no care for the economy, the hardship inflicted on people and personal freedom – is deplorable.
Families should ignore the shroud-waving and heed health Secretary Sajid Javid in preparing for a normal Christmas.
Thanks to the vaccine miracle and natural immunity, Britain is infinitely better placed to beat the invisible killer than a year ago.
The emergence of omicron is a salient reminder the pandemic is not over. But unless events take a catastrophic turn for the worse, Boris should promptly remove the shackles again.