The Daily Mail ran with ‘Rejoice! Xmas is looking safe’ on its front page today.
They claim Minsters have defied ‘gloomy’ scientists by refusing to back curbs that would curtail people’s normal festive goings-on to stop the spread of Covid-19.
New restrictions are unlikely to stop Christmas celebrations this week but Boris Johnson has urged caution amid speculation further measures will be needed to halt the spread of the Omicron variant.
The prime minister has promised to keep the data under constant review, while the Queen abandoned her Christmas at Sandringham and London mayor Sadiq Khan has canned the capital’s New Year’s Eve celebrations.
After a special two-hour meeting of the Cabinet on Monday, the PM said the Government needs to be clearer about the rate of hospital admissions associated with Omicron, and the effectiveness of vaccines against it, before imposing additional measures in England to prevent the spread of the virus.
But he said the Government will “reserve the possibility” of implementing new restrictions, causing opposition politicians to accuse him of lacking a clear plan.
Reactions
As you can see, not everyone is as excited as the Mail at the government’s decision to ignore those pesky gloomy scientists.
Here’s a pick of the reaction:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Always worth a recap on this story while we are here…
Related: GMB cancelled over Christmas period amid Covid fears