Ministers reportedly rejected calls from scientific advisers for new measures to combat the Omicron variant before Christmas.
Confirmed cases of the faster-spreading strain have risen by more than 12,000 in the UK – and in London alone, cases topped 10,000, according to the latest data from Sunday.
But around a third of the cabinet will be reluctant to support new restrictions in the coming days, according to The Times, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
The paper reported that 10 ministers opposed a call by the government’s chief scientific advisor, Sir Patrick Vallance, over the weekend to put new restrictions in place as soon as possible to prevent health care overload.
According to the Daily Telegraph, three options to combat the spread of the virus were presented to Mr Johnson.
The paper reported that they range from guidelines urging people to limit indoor contact, household mixing rules, social distancing, and a curfew in pubs and restaurants, to a complete lockdown.
The Telegraph quoted an unnamed cabinet minister as saying that the data submitted on Saturday by Sir Patrick and England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty had “only been destroyed by the cabinet”.
The source said that “guidelines, not restrictions, are entirely possible”.
Health Minister Sajid Javid said it was time to be “more careful” and wasn’t ruling out new measures before Christmas. He told BBC One’s Andrew Marr program there were “no guarantees in this pandemic”.
He confirmed that if new rules were proposed, Parliament would be called back to approve them and described this approach as “only right and appropriate”.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned that the NHS could be “on the verge of collapse” if restrictions are not put in place soon, with disease affecting the workforce.
Education Minister Nadhim Zahawi has urged former teachers to report staff shortages in the New Year, while school principals’ unions have warned of possible interruptions to face-to-face classes.
Meanwhile, the Treasury Department announced on Sunday that additional funding to fight Covid-19 in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had doubled to a total of £ 860 million.
Mr Sunak said the push – which followed an increase in demands from the three nations for more monetary assistance in the face of the surge in Omicron cases – was to ensure people were supported “in the face of this grave health crisis.”
A council published over the weekend by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) warned that there are probably hundreds of thousands of new Omicron infections in England every day and that hospital admissions with the variant in the UK are “probably around a tenth” the true number “Due to a delay in reporting.
England Chief Nursing Officer Ruth May has pushed for a “final festive booster bounce” for the jabs program, telling people that there is “no room for complacency” and booking their slots – which include availability on Christmas Day.
While England had a record 830,403 booster vaccinations on Saturday, a rate of about a million a day is required if a booster is to be offered to every adult by the end of the year.
Deaths of people with the variant in England rose to 12, while hospital admissions for patients with confirmed or suspected omicron rose to 104, according to the latest figures from the UK health authority.
Another 12,133 confirmed cases of the variant have been reported across the UK, Sunday’s data showed, bringing the total number of confirmed cases of Omicron across the four nations to 37,101.
A total of 82,886 laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 cases were registered in the UK on Sunday at 9 a.m., the government said.
Experts warn of a delay in taking action.
Professor Stephen Reicher, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviors (SPI-B), said that the faster portability of Omicron means that it is “like an express train” and called for a clear message to the public.
He told BBC News: “A good clear message is more important now than ever about how serious the crisis is.
He added that “good government information combined with good government support” would likely lead people to “accept the measures necessary to bring this matter under control”.
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