UK Covid live: ministers ‘closely looking at the data’ before deciding on circuit breaker for England, says minister

There have been questions about whether parliament could be recalled from their break in time before Christmas day, but my colleague Andrew Sparrow points out that actually in theory, they could be called back to make a decision about Covid restrictions on the day itself:

A total of 764 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending December 10 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This is down 4% on the previous week and is the lowest number of deaths since the week to October 15, when the total was 713.

Around one in 16 (6.4%) of all deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to December 10 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate.

Some 65 care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales were registered in the week to December 10, down slightly from 67 in the previous week.

In total, 44,406 care home residents in England and Wales have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate since the pandemic began.

The ONS figures cover deaths of care home residents in all settings, not just in care homes.

The DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has tested positive for Covid, he has announced on Twitter.

He said he fell ill after returning from London last week.

“Infighting” and “jockeying” for the Conservative leadership has taken over from Covid decision-making, Labour has said.

Asked by Times Radio whether the government has provided clarity by saying that decisions on new restrictions will be taken at a later date, Labour Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said this is not the case.

She said:

Most of the read-outs from those meetings and the rumours that have spread since suggest that really this is about disagreement within a group of senior conservatives, jockeying for position to be the next leader of the Conservative Party rather than actually soberly looking at the evidence both health and economic evidence and taking a decision.

We do need a Government right now that is now focused on the national interest, not infighting within the Conservative Party.

Dodds also said Labour would “follow the evidence” if it was in power, pointing to decision-making by the Welsh Labour government based on the latest scientific advice.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, a former member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, has told the Today programme “each of us can do things today that will make the chance of further restrictions lighter”.

He added:

Omicron is spreading unbelievably fast. It is a phenomenal variant transmission.

There is great uncertainty about what is it going to lead to in terms of pressure on the health system, people going to hospital, particularly people dying, but also what impact is it going to have on the broader society, staff absences, the ability to have functioning other services, so there is great uncertainty.

My personal view is that I think we can wait at the moment until there are more restrictions formally placed.

A top scientist has said we “cannot afford to cross our fingers and hope this crisis blows over” as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 spreads across the world.

Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome, said in a statement: “As we have learned from the very beginning of this pandemic, it’s better to act sooner than later.”

He said it was essential that governments act “swiftly and accordingly, paying close attention to the data”.

To bring Omicron under any form of control, he said, it’s critical that transmission is slowed.

If not, we could see profound impacts on health systems but also across sectors such as education, hospitality, public transport, police and essential national infrastructure as infections prevent people from working. No country can afford to think they are an exception.

It is staggering and deeply frustrating that two years into this pandemic – when we have gathered so much evidence and made huge scientific progress – that governments are still not anticipating events and acting early or working together anywhere near the scale that is required.

He also warned that the government shouldn’t just focus on domestic issues but think about the bigger picture in order to get Covid under control.

He said:

Without a truly global response, where we urgently increase access to tests, treatments and vaccines in all countries – not just those with buying power – we cannot expect to achieve lasting recovery. Global leaders had indicated through pledges they understand the problem, but all too often these remain just that – pledges. We are far beyond the time for warm words. Countries around the world cannot afford to wait for high-income nations to act on their promises. We can do better. We must do better.

At the same time, we must invest far more now in next generation therapeutics and vaccines, ones that not only stop sickness and death, but also prevent transmission and work against potential new variants. Next year, we must do what we have so far failed to do – we must get ahead of this pandemic and break this vicious reactive cycle.

There would be “economic consequences” to further Covid restrictions, a minister has stated as he said Parliament is not yet due to be recalled to discuss new measures.

Steve Barclay told BBC Breakfast:

The prime minister has given a commitment that where there are additional regulations bought forward that parliament would be recalled in order that members of parliament can scrutinise and debate those issues, but we are not at that stage.

We are looking closely at the data and we need to recognise there are economic consequences to further restrictions.

There is much that we still don’t know but we are still looking at that data on what are very finely-balanced decisions.

Barclay said people should have a “cautious” Christmas, according to a government minister who has changed his own plans.

He told LBC he had downsized the number of family members at his Christmas celebrations this year, with only his in-laws attending.

The cabinet office minister said:

We are saying to people that they should continue with Christmas but do so in a cautious way. That is what I will be doing with my own family.

We can all protect our families and friends by having the booster.

When asked what a cautious Christmas is, he added: “I think it is thinking about how many people we need to see. Some of my family won’t be coming over at Christmas. My wife’s parents will be joining us but others will not.”

New Covid restrictions are unlikely to be imposed before Christmas amid deep cabinet divisions but Boris Johnson warned further measures remain on the table, with data on the threat of Omicron monitored “hour by hour”.

The prime minister was accused of failing to follow scientists’ advice on the need for immediate restrictions while leaving millions of people and businesses in limbo after a two-hour cabinet meeting ended with no decision on Monday.

During the meeting, scientific advisers briefed ministers on the latest data including a steep rise in hospitalisations in London, with the UK’s highest number of Omicron cases, while 91,743 people tested positive for Covid on Monday across the UK.

Afterwards, the prime minister said the arguments for and against stricter measures were “finely balanced” and the situation was “extremely difficult”.

Read the full story by my colleagues Aubrey Allegretti, Peter Walker and Sarah Butler from last night here:

The effect that lockdowns have on people’s lives is as bad as going to hospital, Sir Iain Duncan Smith has warned amid the rise of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and uncertainty over whether or not new restrictions will be brought in.

The former leader of the conservative party told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:

We need to understand the effect of lockdown is dramatic across so many areas of people’s lives, which equates to the same as people going into hospital.

He said the government to make a decision about further restrictions only when there is a “wider range of information on the effect of lockdown”.

Duncan Smith said:

We do not want to end up where we were last Christmas and we do have a significantly vaccinated population and that has a huge effect on hospitalisation, so we are under different circumstances than we were last January.

The government will “say more” about its discussions with business leaders calling for more Covid financial support later today, a minister has said.

When asked about measures to help businesses struggling this Christmas due to Covid restrictions, cabinet office minister Steve Barclay told BBC Breakfast:

The chancellor was talking to industry leaders about this very issue last night. We will say more about this later today.

We recognise obviously we are keen to keep businesses open and businesses should continue to plan for the bookings they have.

We absolutely recognise that through Plan B and the behaviour change there has been an impact on those bookings.

The government will “look closely at the data” about whether or not to have a circuit-breaker lockdown after Christmas, a minister has said.

When asked if the measure was being considered, cabinet office minister Steve Barclay told LBC Radio:

We are looking closely at the data, there is much we still don’t know about the severity of Omicron, how it leads to hospital admissions.

We are looking particularly at the London data, there is a higher prevalence of Omicron particularly in London.

Asked if he had been among members of the cabinet calling for more data before new restrictions were introduced, Barclay said:

I think it is right that the cabinet has a full and robust discussion.

That is what people would expect. It is right that we look at the balance between protecting lives and livelihoods.

Steve Barclay told BBC Breakfast that the prime minister has given a commitment that where there are additional regulations bought forward that parliament would be recalled in order that MPs can scrutinise and debate those issues, but he added: “We are not at that stage”.

He said:

We are looking closely at the data and we need to recognise there are economic consequences to further restrictions.

There is much that we still don’t know but we are still looking at that data on what are very finely-balanced decisions.

Meanwhile, scientists have reacted with dismay to Boris Johnson’s decision not to impose fresh restrictions to curb the spread of Omicron, emphasising that waiting until the new year would “almost certainly be too late to have a material impact on the epidemic”.