Cabinet minister still skeptical about restrictions of Kovid boris johnson England prepares to receive its post-Christmas briefing on the status of the latest wave before calling for additional restrictions.
The prime minister is not expected to announce further restrictions after being briefed about the impact of Christmas on COVID infections and hospital pressures.
Johnson delayed any new cabinet summit on restrictions until after his regular data briefing with England’s chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty – expected to be knighted in New Year’s honors – and chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance.
Key evidence that the government will examine on Monday includes new data on length of hospital stay, infection rate in ICU and death.
There is concern in some government figures about undeclared positive cases – including those who are asymptomatic but isolated after lateral flow testing whose results have not been recorded by the NHS because they do not perform PCR tests.
If Johnson decides to extend restrictions, he could face some cabinet skepticism. Before Christmas, Johnson’s cabinet pushed back against the new restrictions, with major opponents including the Transportation Secretary, Grant Shapps, the Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, and the Trade Secretary, Quasi Quarteng.
However, cabinet sources said the mind may change if there is a drastic change in the data. A source close to Shapps said: “Grant is very optimistic that we won’t have to enter complete lockdown after Christmas, but he is not dogmatic on the subject.
“Some people in the cabinet will take cues from them because they have no ax to grind and will only opt for mild or harsh measures on the available data.”
A separate cabinet source said the positive data on the seriousness of the Omicron version proved they were correct. An analysis by the UK’s Health Protection Agency found that those catching Omicron were 50% to 70% less likely to require hospital care than previous variants. “It was true that we didn’t rush last time, making a positive start at the start,” he said.
A third cabinet minister said: “The figures so far are still struggling to be confident about the legal changes needed.”
Government sources have ruled out some of the most controversial restrictions – including school closures. The Times reported on Monday that weddings and funerals would also be exempt from any restrictions on large gatherings.
Any change is expected to be strongly opposed by Conservative lawmakers. Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said the prime minister would “wait and see” what happens with O’Micron in the coming days before deciding on further measures.
Treasurer of the 1922 Committee of the Backbench traditionalists told Times Radio: “I think unless the data is very different from the pre-Christmas data, the prime minister will just have to wait and see what happens in the next few days, because until next week we have It will be very clear whether such a large number of infections are going to turn into hospital cases.
“But, at this time, I would urge caution due to the damage to the economy and the damage caused by unnecessarily locking down individuals.”
Asked if he was concerned that England was “stepping out” with the rest of Britain in terms of Omicron sanctions, the Cotswolds MP replied: “I think it’s the other way around.
“I think the princely states are out of step with England. I think they have been overly cautious. I think they are doing too much damage to their economy. I think they need the freedom of the people ” Doing more harm than good – I don’t think the evidence, unless today’s figures look very different, is there any other way.
He said that if Johnson chose to strengthen the measures needed to deal with Omicron, it would be “not at all a cop-out” to offer them as guidance rather than be written into law, adding: “I think that this would be the very sensible way to proceed.”