“Chance” extra restrictions won’t be necessary
Prime Minister stated that despite the high number coronavirus cases in the UK there was still an epidemic. “chance”England does not require additional restrictions.
Boris Johnson spoke at Downing Street’s press briefing: “But, our position today differs in two crucial aspects from previous waves.”
“First, Omicron is more mild than other variants. This means that while hospital admissions are on the rise with over 15,000 Covid patients in England, this is not yet translating into the same number of people who need intensive care as we saw in previous waves.
“Second we have a significant level of protection thanks to the amazing national effort to boost Britain. Over 34 million boosters were administered in England. This included more than 90% for the over 70s and 86% for the over 50s.
“We have the opportunity to ride out this Omicron wave together with our Plan B measures, which we introduced before Christmas without closing down our country.”
“We can keep our schools and our businesses open and we can find a way to live with this virus.”