Boris Johnson ‘considering three options including lockdown’ to combat spread of Omicron

The Prime Minister is said to be considering ‘three options’ to combat the spread of the Omicron variant, one of which includes a full national lockdown.

According to the Telegraph, Boris Johnson was presented with three scenarios for tougher restrictions by scientists, the first being the lowest level possible and asking people to limit their indoor contacts.

The second option, however, is said to bring in a full ban on indoor household mixing, reintroduce social distancing in all public areas and bring in an 8pm curfew on pubs and restaurants, as well as limiting them to outdoor service only. 

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The third option presented to Johnson is said to be a full ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown, which would see all non-essential shops, pubs and restaurants close and people to stay at home. 

The Health Secretary Sajid Javid has refused to rule out any lockdown rules being implemented before Christmas, with him saying there are ‘no guarantees in this pandemic’.

While discussing the rumoured lockdown on The Andrew Marr Show yesterday, Javid said: “There are no guarantees in this pandemic, I don’t think. At this point, we just have to keep everything under review.”

He added that the government are continuing to assess the ‘fast-moving’ situation, saying: “We’ve seen with Omicron there’s a lot that we still don’t know about Omicron. That’s the truth of the matter. The reality is there’s a lot of uncertainty.”

He also said that it was ‘time to be more cautious’, adding: “We know this thing is spreading rapidly. We know already now that in London, it’s around 80% of infections, in England it’s around 60% of infections.”

However, the South African doctor who discovered the variant has accused the UK of ‘overreacting’ with the introduction of restrictions, saying the talk of lockdown is ‘scaring people unnecessarily’. 

Speaking to Sky News last week, Dr. Angelique Coetzee said: “If Omicron really were such a deadly variant, we would expect the numbers to have shot up, yet that simply isn’t happening here.

“This makes it all the more peculiar to see what’s happening in the UK. This huge overreaction is scaring people unnecessarily, and if your Government does decide go to for a hard lockdown in the New Year, that could end up doing far more harm than good.”