Don’t go to work, but do go to parties
Immediate backlash at ‘irrational’ new Covid rules after England moves to Plan B
BORIS JOHNSON last night told millions of people to work from home next week, but said that they should still attend office Christmas parties.
The Prime Minister announced the introduction of Plan B Covid rules at a Downing Street press conference last night, the biggest expansion in restrictions in England since January .
Covid passports will be required to enter all large venues for the first time from next Wednesday, meaning people will have to show proof of two vaccine doses or a negative test.
Face masks will also become a legal necessity at most indoor public places from Friday, although they will not be needed in pubs and restaurants.
Workers will also be asked to remain at home from Monday. There will also be a change to isolation rules.
However, Mr Johnson said that people should still attend Christmas parties, prompting suggestions that the new rules were illogical.
The press conference was called as the Prime Minister found himself embroiled in allegations that a Downing Street staff Christmas party was held last year at a time when restrictions prohibited such gatherings. He rejected claims from some Tory MPS that the announcements had been brought forward to divert attention from the row.
Mr Johnson said he was acting because omicron cases were doubling every two to three days, with scientific estimates suggesting there could be one million cases by the end of the month.
The Prime Minister said: “While the picture may get better – and I sincerely hope that it will – we know the remorseless logic of exponential growth could lead to a big rise in hospitalisations, and therefore sadly in deaths.
“And that is why it is now the proportionate and responsible thing to move to Plan B in England.”
Discontent emerged from the Tory benches last night. One MP shouted “resign” as Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, announced the measures to the Commons and others said they would vote against vaccine passports.
Several government sources also told The Daily Telegraph that some Cabinet ministers had privately pushed back against the measures yesterday. Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, raised concerns about the impact on the economy and what the “exit strategy” was. Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, was understood to have voiced fears that consumer confidence could plummet and Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, was said to be “uncomfortable” with the changes. No fixed end date has been announced, with Mr Johnson expected to look again at the rules next month.
John Redwood, the Tory MP, criticised the decision to both urge people to work from home but also go to their Christmas parties. He said: “It doesn’t make any sense. It was clearly contradictory.” Andrew Bridgen, another Tory MP, said: “For a government that claims to follow the science, I think they’ve lost their marbles. The restrictions are incoherent and irrational.”
Earlier yesterday, Mr Johnson announced an inquiry into whether the No10 Christmas gathering last year broke lockdown rules. His aide, Allegra Stratton, resigned after footage emerged of her joking in a mock press briefing about the alleged party.
The Prime Minister addressed the nation from the same podium from which Ms Stratton had spoken a year ago. “It’s become increasingly clear that omicron is growing much faster than the previous delta variant,” he said.
“568 cases have been confirmed across every region of the UK, and the true number is certain to be much higher. Most worryingly, there is evidence that the doubling time of omicron in the UK could currently be between two and three days.”
Mr Johnson urged people to “work from home if you can”. However, when asked what his message was on parties and nativity plays, he said they should not be cancelled, although people should take lateral flow tests. He said: “We think it’s OK currently, on what we can see, to keep going with Christmas parties, but obviously everybody should exercise due caution.”
Covid passports will come into force in England next week. A change to the original plan has been adopted, with people able to show proof of a negative test as well as two doses of a vaccine.
The passports will be required for entry into nightclubs, most indoor venues with more than 500 people, unseated outdoor venues with more than 4,000 people and any venue with more than 10,000 people.
The legal requirement to wear a mask has been extended from public transport. Mr Johnson said places where “eating, drinking, exercising or singing” took place would be exempt.
A move to counter concerns of a new “pingdemic” was also announced, with daily tests instead of a 10-day isolation needed for anyone coming into contact with an omicron case. It should mean people who test negative will not have to self-isolate, though it remained unclear exactly when the change would come into effect.
A backlash, fuelled by the No10 party claims, was building among Tory MPS last night. Mark Harper, the chairman of the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group, said vaccine passports were “pointless and damaging”. He added: “Why should people listen to the Prime Minister’s instructions to follow the rules when people inside No10 Downing Street don’t do so?”
Greg Clark, the former business secretary, accused Mr Javid of having “jumped the gun”, pointing out that last week he had assured MPS further restrictions would not be imposed based on rising infections alone.
A vote on the restrictions will be held in Parliament next week.
There was also business industry backlash. Matthew Fell, the CBI’S chief policy director, said: “Fresh restrictions are a big setback for businesses, particularly for those in hospitality and retail who are in a critical trading period, as well as others such as transport.”
COVID restrictions are to be tightened across the country just weeks before Christmas, Boris Johnson announced last night as he attempted to halt a rapid increase in hospitalisations from the new omicron variant.
People will have to work from home from Monday and vaccine passports will be required to go to nightclubs and football matches from Wednesday next week.
Face masks will again become compulsory in most indoor venues from tomorrow but not in pubs, bars or restaurants.
The Government’s Covid-19 winter plan – first published in mid-september – had made clear that ministers would move to its Plan B if the NHS was “likely to come under unsustainable pressure”.
The Prime Minister came to his decision following meetings with officials, scientific advisers and his Cabinet at No10, after cases in South Africa – where omicron was first detected – doubled in a week.
He said: “We know the remorseless logic of exponential growth could lead to a big rise in hospitalisations and, therefore, sadly, in deaths.
“And that is why it is now the proportionate and responsible thing to move to Plan B in England.” Any review of the restrictions would happen “no later” than early January “and possibly before”.
The news was welcomed by experts including the Royal Society for Public Health, which said moving to Plan B would “slow down the spread of disease and buy us time to roll out the boosters”.
However, some councils sounded the alarm, with one in London saying it would be “a hammer blow” to traders who had fought so hard to stay in business during the lockdowns of the past two years.
There was also concern among Tory MPS in the Commons who shouted “What a load of old tripe” and “Rubbish” as Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, said the restrictions were not what the Government wanted to introduce.
Face masks
Face coverings will be required from just after midnight tonight in most public indoor venues, such as cinemas, theatres and places of worship in England.
They were first made compulsory in shops and on public transport in England in an effort to slow the spread of omicron on Nov 30. However, crucially there will be exemptions for venues where it is not practical to wear one, such as when people are eating, drinking, exercising or singing.
“For that reason, face masks will not be required in hospitality settings,” No10 said, and churchgoers will not have to wear masks when singing carols and hymns this Christmas.
The new requirement will be a significant test for police forces that are already overstretched in the run-up to Christmas.
Officers can fine rule breakers £200 each, reduced to £100 if paid within 14 days. That penalty doubles for each subsequent offence, with no discount for quick payment, up to a maximum of £6,400.
Assistant Chief Constable Owen Weatherill, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said last month that officers would engage with people not wearing face coverings and encourage them to do so.
Face masks were required to be worn by customers in England in pubs, bars and restaurants when they were not seated until July 19 this year.
Vaccine passports
Anyone who wants to attend “nightclubs and settings where large crowds gather” will have to show proof that they have been double vaccinated against Covid-19.
From 6am on Wednesday, people will have to demonstrate their Covid status to gain entry to venues where large crowds gather.
This includes unseated indoor events with 500 or more attendees, unseated outdoor events with 4,000 or more people and any event with 10,000 or more people present.
Those going to such venues will have to demonstrate proof of having received two vaccines on the NHS Covid app.
Mr Johnson said this would be kept “under review” and hinted that the booster jab could be added.
Proof of a recent lateral flow test will also be accepted for the unvaccinated, Mr Johnson added after he had “taken clinical advice since the emergence of omicron”. Waiting a week before introducing the vaccine passport requirement will give companies enough notice to make the changes.
The PM said that he wanted to ensure that he was “helping to keep these events and venues open at full capacity, while giving everyone who attends them confidence that those around them have done the responsible thing to minimise risk to others”.
More details will be published today about vaccine passports, and such a requirement must be subject to a vote of MPS. When they were announced in the Commons by Mr Javid, William Wragg , a Conservative MP, was heard shouting “Resign”.
Hours after Mr Johnson announced the introduction of vaccine passports, the NHS Covid Pass was inaccessible to users owing to technical issues.
Greg Clark, a Conservative former cabinet minister, added that he thought Mr Javid had “reversed his position and jumped the gun”.
Work from home
‘Recent lateral flow tests will be accepted as proof for those who have not been vaccinated’
People are to be asked to work from home “if they can” from Monday in an attempt to slow the spread of omicron in workplaces.
Employers were being “encouraged to use the rest of this week to discuss working arrangements with their employees”, Mr Johnson said. This requirement was guidance only and not a legal requirement.
He said: “Go to work if you must but work from home if you can. And I know this will be hard for many people, but by reducing your contacts in the workplace you will help slow transmission.”
The return of working from home was condemned by Rachael Robathan, the leader of Westminster City Council, who feared for shops and firms that relied on office workers to stay open.
She said: “We are deeply concerned at the impact this will have on the people and businesses of Westminster.
“Working from home is going to prove a hammer blow to those traders who fought their way through the last lockdown, some of them only narrowly surviving closure.” The decision came just days after Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, said that residents should work from home until January.
Test and release
Anyone found to have been in contact with someone infected by the omicron variant will be able return to the community after a negative lateral flow test.
The announcement was a crumb of good news given that the current rules – introduced at the end of last month – required the contacts of anyone with
‘We will introduce daily tests for contacts instead of isolation so we minimise disruption’
‘Keep going with parties. But everybody should exercise caution. Have a test before you go’
omicron to self isolate at home for 10 days at home.
Testing was a “vital tool in controlling the spread – given the likely increased transmissibility of omicron”.
Mr Johnson said: “As omicron spreads in the community, we will also introduce daily tests for contacts instead of isolation, so we keep people safe while minimising the disruption to daily life.”
Schools
School nativity plays should go ahead and pupils should not be taken out of classes, Mr Johnson said, despite claims that some schools are already starting to close earlier for the Christmas holidays.
Mr Johnson said: “We do not want kids to be taken out of school before the end of term, not that there is a very long time to go now.
“We do not want nativity plays to be cancelled, we think that it is OK currently, on what we can see, to keep going with Christmas parties. But everybody should exercise due caution.
“Have ventilation, wash your hands, get a test before you go, give everybody [confidence] they are going to be meeting someone who is not contagious.”
That came as the UK’S largest teacher union demanded a return of bubbles and face masks in the classroom as it unveiled its own Plan B for schools.
The National Education Union urged ministers to step up self-isolation rules for children as well as reintroduce oneway systems and staggered break times to reduce transmission.
Teachers should also be given time off school during working hours to get their booster vaccines without any loss of pay, the union said.