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Boris Johnson to hold Covid press conference from Downing Street today
It has been suggested that the Prime Minister won’t be implementing any further restrictions this week
Boris Johnson will hold a virtual press conference this evening to answer questions on his government’s approach to tackling the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
At 5pm today, the Prime Minister will update the country after reviewing the latest data on Covid case numbers and hospitalisations from Christmas and New Year.
Johnson will be joined by England’s chief medical officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, and the government’s chief scientific officer, Sir Patrick Vallance.
No 10 Downing Street / Flickr
As reported by The Independent, Number 10 has suggested that Johnson will stick with the current ‘Plan B’ measures rather than bring in any major changes for England this week.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said today: “At the moment, we don’t see any data that suggests further restrictions would be the right approach – given we know it’s important to strike the right balance between lives and livelihoods.
“We believe this [Plan B] is the right course – asking people to work from home, use the Covid pass and of course the booster programme.”
Vaccines minister Maggie Throup has also insisted that ‘Plan B is working’, and indicated the government would not be bringing in further restrictions.
No 10 Downing Street / Flickr
She told Sky News: “As you can see from the number of hospitalisations – it’s far, far fewer than this time last year. The vaccines are working. The measures to get people working from home are working.
“I don’t see any reason why we need to change.”
This comes as the Prime Minister comes under increasing pressure to cut the isolation period from seven to five days to ease the pressure of staff absences experienced across numerous sectors, including health care and education.