Omicron variant: mandatory face masks among new Covid rules

Facemasks will become mandatory for indoor public places and transport, he announced at a press conference on Saturday evening. 

All travellers to UK must take a PCR test and self isolate until they receive a negative result.

Meanwhile, a rule of mandatory self isolation at home for ten days for everyone in contact with a positive case will also be enforced. 

Read more: Two confirmed cases of Omicron Covid variant in UK

Mr Johnson added that the Omicron variant spreads “rapidly” between people, even those who have been double vaccinated, so some “precautionary” measures will be needed.

Face coverings

He said the exact rules on face coverings will be set out soon.There will be no rule changes for the hospitality sector.

He told the Downing Street press conference: “On face coverings, what we’re looking at is retail and transport, just going back to a position where you have to wear them in retail settings or on public transport.

“But the Health Secretary Saj (Javid) will be setting out more in the course of the next day or so.”

Travel

“We’re not going to stop people travelling, I want to stress that, we’re not going to stop people travelling, but we will require anyone who enters the UK to take a PCR test by the end of the second day after their arrival and to self-isolate until they have a negative result," he added. 

“Second, we need to slow down the spread of this variant here in the UK, because measures at the border can only ever minimise and delay the arrival of a new variant rather than stop it all together.

“We will require all contacts of those who test positive with a suspected case of Omicron to self-isolate for 10 days regardless of your vaccination status.

“We will also go further in asking all of you to help contain the spread of this variant by tightening up the rules on face coverings in shops and on public transport.”

A post on the official Twitter account of the Prime Minister’s office said: “COVID UPDATE: Face coverings will become compulsory on public transport and in shops. Not including hospitality.”

Read more: All you need to know about the new Omicron Covid variant

Booster jabs

Mr Johnson continued: “Third, and most importantly, we need to bolster our protections against this new variant.

“We don’t yet exactly know how effective our vaccines will be against Omicron but we have good reasons for believing they will provide at least some measure of protection.

“If you’re boosted, your response is likely to be stronger so it’s more vital than ever that people get their jabs and we get those boosters into arms as fast as possible.

“From today we’re going to boost the booster campaign, we’re already planning to do six million jabs in England alone over the next three weeks and now we’re looking to go further.

“The Health Secretary has asked the JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation) to consider giving boosters to as wide a group as possible as well as reducing the gap between your second dose and your booster.”

Christmas cancelled? 

The Prime Minister said he is “confident” this Christmas “will be considerably better than last Christmas.”

Questioned about the prospect for this year’s festivities at a Downing Street press conference relating to the new coronavirus variant, Boris Johnson said: “We continue to be in a strong position largely thanks to the speed of the vaccine rollout, another booster rollout and I think I’m going to stick with the formula I’ve used before, which is I’m pretty confident to absolutely confident this Christmas will be considerably better than last Christmas.”

The UK may need to “face up” to the possibility of further action if the Omicron variant is very transmissible , the UK’s chief scientific adviser has said.

Sir Patrick Vallance told the Downing Street press conference: “I think we’ll get more information on transmissibility, we’ll get more information on the ability of the vaccines to protect against the virus, but that’s going to take a little bit of time.

“At the moment, the models are more ‘if it spreads very fast, of course it’s going to spread very fast and go into a lot of places, and if it spreads less fast it’s going to do so less’.

“But if it’s very transmissible and does cause big escape, then clearly that’s a major issue we have to face up to.

“But that isn’t what we know at the moment, we need to get that information.”

Professor Chris Whitty said the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation will now need to decide whether to extend the booster vaccine down to adults age 18, and whether a second dose should be offered to children aged 12-15 who decided with their families to get the first dose of the vaccine.

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