The Prime Minister has considered calls for a national lockdown beginning as soon as December 27, according to reports.
Boris Johnson has been weighing up a “sliding scale” of new Covid-19 restrictions, The Telegraph reports.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has warned that ministers may have to introduce new measures on the basis of “early and patchy” data, the paper says.
The Times reports that further restrictions could be ‘introduced between Christmas and the new year’.
The paper says an announcement could be made on Boxing Day, with measures potentially starting on December 27.
Asked about a possible tightening of restrictions after Christmas, a Government spokesman said they will “continue to look closely at all data and keep our measures under review”.
Concerns are mounting over a surge in a number of Covid cases as the Omicron variant sweeps across the UK. A further 90,418 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases have been recorded in the UK as of 9am on Saturday.
It comes after scientific advisers to the Government said hospital admissions with the variant in the UK are “probably around one tenth of the true number” due to a lag in reporting.
Read more: Boris Johnson considers ‘Christmas lockdown’ – reports
