Is Boris Johnson holding a Covid press conference today?
20 December 2021, 15:24
Is Boris Johnson making an emergency speech today? And when will he announce the new Christmas rules? Here's what we know...
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Boris Johnson has called an emergency Cabinet meeting today as leading scientists urge the government to consider tougher Covid restrictions.
The Prime Minister is currently under pressure to make a decision as the UK is hit by a huge rise in Omicron cases.
Insiders claim that Mr Johnson is discussing returning to Step 2 restrictions in England, which would see hospitality venues forced to serve customers outside and limits on socialising.
- Will we go into another lockdown before Christmas?
- Will schools close again in January?
- Will pubs and restaurants close again in January?
But when is Boris Johnson’s next press conference? Here’s what we know about the government announcement.
Is Boris Johnson holding a Covid press conference today?
It is thought that Boris Johnson will not be making a Covid announcement on Monday 20 December.
There aren’t currently any scheduled Covid announcements, however this could change at very short notice.
This has led to speculation that the PM is unlikely to impose further Covid restrictions before Christmas.
It takes 48 hours to recall Parliament, carry out a vote and implement restrictions.
This means most people will have already travelled for Christmas by the time an announcement is made.
According to The Times, Mr Johnson is favouring a two-week circuit breaker after Christmas, with December 28 thought to be a realistic starting point.
This comes after Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said the UK is in a better position than last year, when plans for a Christmas bubble were scrapped just days before December 25.
He told Sky News: “We are in a much different place, we are in a much stronger place because of the resilience of our communities because of the high take up of the vaccine. That gives us an extra layer of resilience.
“The rules currently are the best mitigation strategy that we have got but of course there is this time lag in the data.
“We know Omicron is spreading fast, we don’t yet know the severity. And we are reliant on seeing that data coming through and it comes through day by day.”
