Covid news – live: Sajid Javid to detail new measures as first Omicron cases found in UK

Health secretary Sajid Javid has said people should plan for Christmas as “normal”.

He told Sky’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday: “I think it’s fair to say that the nature of this pandemic is it would be irresponsible to make guarantees.

“As for Christmas, I think people should continue with their plans as normal for Christmas, I think it’s going to be a great Christmas.”

England is “nowhere near” introducing tougher Covid restrictions, Sajid Javid says, despite the return of mask-wearing and PCR tests for travellers.

The health secretary rejected stricter curbs – such as social distancing, or a working from home rule – arguing they “carry a very heavy price” and are not necessary now, despite the arrival of the Omicron variant.

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick has more on this:

The health secretary has said he hopes extra measures will be “temporary”, adding he thinks people will “take this more seriously”.

Speaking to Trevor Phillips On Sunday on Sky News, Sajid Javid said: “Doing it in this proportionate way where it’s for public transport, it’s for retail outlets, I think is the right level of response on masks.

“It will be via government regulation and that means, I think, that people will take it seriously.”

Pressed on whether people will follow the rules on masks, Mr Javid said following the news of a new variant: “I do think people will take this more seriously.”

Mr Javid added: “It’s important, I think, to act in a proportionate way and also in a temporary way.

“I hope this is something that we can remove within weeks. But I do think in terms of making progress, we want life to go back towards normal, but at this point in time, given what we know about this variant, and the expert advice that has been received, I think it is right to take some proportionate and balanced action.”

Health secretary Sajid Javid told Sky’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday new rules on wearing masks in shops and on public transport should come into force on Tuesday.

The health secretary has said he is expecting to get advice on broadening the booster programme from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation “imminently”.

Speaking to Trevor Phillips On Sunday on Sky News, Sajid Javid said vaccines are now more important “than it was before”.

He said: “We know that vaccines work. Yes, this new variant may make it less effective or not. But the vaccines work, they are our first form of defence and that is why I have also asked our expert advisers on vaccines called JCVI to give me very quick advice on broadening boosting our booster programme.

“I expect to get that advice imminently. This is all about acting swiftly in a proportionate and balanced way to protect the progress that we have made.”

The UK’s high level of immunity, whether through jabs or previous Covid-19 infection, will hopefully provide a “cushion” of protection when it comes to the new Omicron variant, a vaccines expert has said.

Professor Gordon Dougan, from the institute for therapeutic immunology and infectious disease at the University of Cambridge, said he doubts whether the new strain will be able to get around immunity completely.

He told Times Radio: “We’re very lucky in one sense, in that we’ve already built up either natural immunity in those who’ve been infected and we’ve also got vaccine-induced immunity.

“I doubt the variant will escape completely protection – we’ll have to wait and see – but we’ve got that sort of cushion, if you like, to give us a little bit more confidence that we can deal with the situation.”

Boris Johnson’s measures to slow the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant are “a watered-down version of Plan B”, Professor Lawrence Young has said.

The professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick said it is a “shame” the measures do not go as far as to advise people to work from home and use vaccine passports.

He told Times Radio: “I think what we’re looking at at the moment is what I call ‘Plan B lite’. It’s a shame that we’re just not going a little bit further.

“That’s not about lockdowns, but it’s about encouraging people to work from home where possible and thinking about how we, you know, dare I say, use some form of vaccine passport just to make sure that we’re all safe.

“So, what we heard yesterday, and what’s likely to happen over the next few weeks, is a watered-down version of Plan B and the hope is that that will be sufficient so we don’t end up in a really difficult situation at Christmas.”

Following my earlier post (11pm), here’s our deputy news editor Alastair Jamieson with more on the countries tightening their borders.

Only fully-vaccinated British tourists will be admitted to Spain from Wednesday as countries around the world tighten border restrictions amid concern at the new Omicron coronavirus variant.

Until now, Britons could enter Spain by showing a negative PCR test result taken up to 72 hours before arriving, but from 1 December they will also need proof of a Covid-19 vaccination.

The variant, which has also been detected in Belgium, Botswana, Hong Kong, Italy, Germany and Britain, has sparked global concern and a wave of travel curbs, although epidemiologists say such restrictions may be too late to stop Omicron from circulating globally.

It came as Switzerland imposed a 10-day quarantine on travellers arriving from Britain, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Egypt and Malawi.