UK Covid live: ‘keep calm and carry on’ with Christmas plans, says minister despite high case numbers

The Metropolitan police has said that it did not receive any complaints related to an alleged Downing Street Christmas party last year.

It comes after Angela Rayner, the Labour deputy leader, asked cabinet secretary Simon Case if he is planning to call in police over allegations that parties were held despite Covid restrictions.

Metropolitan police commissioner Cressida Dick said today that she is not aware of any complaints.

She told a caller on LBC radio: “You asked if we are investigating – the answer to that is no. And, as far as I’m aware, we have had no complaints and therefore I really can’t comment on what did or didn’t happen there.”

Asked what would happen if she received a letter, she said: “If I get a letter, I’ll read a letter.”

She added: “This is the Met. We are professional. We are impartial. We act without fear or favour. We follow evidence. That’s what we do.”

It comes after the Daily Mirror reported earlier this week that the prime minister Boris Johnson gave a speech at a packed leaving party when the country was in lockdown last year and that members of his team held another party days before Christmas.

One in four care home residents are reportedly yet to receive a booster shot, despite government promises that they would be offered one by the start of November.

Citing figures from NHS England, the Telegraph reports that only 72% of care home residents have so far received a booster dose.

At a press conference on 15 November, Boris Johnson said that 80% of eligible people in care homes had received a booster, but charities claimed the new data raises questions over the prime minister’s claim.

Gavin Terry, head of policy at Alzheimer’s Society, said the figures were “providing further cause for concern”, telling the newspaper:

Given the Prime Minister announced on November 15 that 80 per cent of eligible older people in care homes had received a booster, it’s clear that last month’s data did not provide an accurate picture of what was really happening.

The promise to offer jabs to all people living in care homes by November 1 is also now long overdue. We’re left wondering whether the vaccination drive in care homes has ground to a halt to make way for lower risk groups before the Government has met its promise to the most vulnerable.

NHS England told the Telegraph that GPs and care home mangers were working together closely to vaccinate residents but that some may have been postponed by norovirus outbreaks and that some may have died since having their earlier vaccines.

Face mask use is far from universal in British shops and on public transport, according to a new survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Just 19% of adults reported seeing that everyone or almost everyone was wearing a face mask while shopping in the final week of November and the equivalent figure for public transport was just 21%.

However, 71% said that they either always or often wore a face mask while shopping and 70% said they always wore it on public transport.

UK holiday park company Away Resorts says Omicron has led to a surge in Christmas bookings amid renewed travel restrictions.

Chief executive Carl Castledine told Sky News that Christmas bookings are up by 55% and that they are seeing “absolutely sensational levels of consumer desire to get away this Christmas”.

He said record bookings are being driven by families who are looking for a break, experiencing pandemic fatigue and looking for a chance to celebrate together.

Meanwhile, government departments were reportedly cancelling Christmas parties yesterday, ignoring calls by the prime minister to go ahead with them.

The Times reports “Omi-shambles in Whitehall” as multiple government departments call off festive celebrations.

The education department has already suspended plans for its annual talent show, reports the newspaper, and the business department has decided against putting on a staff Christmas party.

It comes despite calls from senior government figures – including Boris Johnson (see also 9:33), Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid (who has said the health department will not have a big party, but that he will take some staff out for dinner) – for big Christmas celebrations to go ahead, despite the threat posed by Omicron.

Oliver Dowden has said he doesn’t plan to cancel the Conservatives’ Christmas party which he said is still planned to take place.

He told BBC Breakfast: “I think it is still planned, and I don’t intend to cancel it as chairman of the Conservative party.”

The British Medical Association (BMA) has said that people should be encouraged to “avoid large groups” and, where possible, meet outdoors during the festive period.

It comes after Boris Johnson has come under pressure in recent days to explain reports of two No 10 parties during lockdown last winter, one of which was allegedly attended by the prime minister.

It comes after an influential scientist last night warned that he wouldn’t feel safe going to a Christmas party this year. Prof Peter Openshaw, a member of the Government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said the “chances of getting infected were too high” to have a party.

He told the BBC’s Question Time:

We have not been planning to have a Christmas party. Because with things as they are, regardless of Omicron, we thought that the chances of getting infected were too high.

Asked about the prime minister’s comments on Christmas plans, he said:

Personally, I wouldn’t feel safe going to a party at the moment, if it involves being indoors in an enclosed space where you’re close to other people, and people are not wearing masks. Even if they’ve been tested and vaccinated, I wouldn’t feel safe.

Britons were today urged to “keep calm and carry on with your Christmas plans” – despite the UK recording its highest cases since July.

Oliver Dowden, the Conservative party chair, said people should keep going to pubs and restaurants as he claimed the government has so far taken “sufficient” action against the new Omicron variant.

“The message to people is fairly straightforward, which is keep calm, carry on with your Christmas plans,” he told Sky News this morning. “We’ve put the necessary restrictions in place, but beyond that, keep calm and carry on.”

The UK has so far recorded 42 Omicron cases and yesterday reported its highest daily cases since July with 53,945 cases and an additional 141 deaths.

Dowden’s words echo those of the prime minister yesterday who said in an interview that people should not be cancelling Christmas parties. “The most important thing is that people should follow the guidance we’ve set out,” he said in a pooled broadcast interview. “People shouldn’t be cancelling things. There’s no need for that at all. It’s not what we are saying.”

So far the government has responded to the new variant by reintroducing face mask requirements and tightening self-isolation rules and restrictions on travel.

Responding to criticism from the hospitality industry over the government’s mixed messages, Dowden insisted the government is not discouraging people from going out.

“We have not changed the advice around people taking part in hospitality – so going to the pub, going to restaurants and so on,” he said.

“And actually I think most pubs and restaurants up until very recently have been doing very well during this season and we’re not discouraging people to do so.”

While he said he was “confident” that this Christmas would be better than last, he urged people to get a Covid booster when they are eligible.

He said:

All of our advice is based on scientific evidence and indeed the chief medical officer [Professor Chris Whitty] and chief scientific adviser [Sir Patrick Vallance] attend cabinet and were at cabinet when we discussed this earlier this week.

Hi, I’ll be looking after the blog today covering UK covid news. Please get in touch with any tips or suggestions: miranda.bryant@guardian.co.uk