UK considers imposing Omicron circuit breaker lockdown amid rising concerns of COVID

UK government officials are discussing the prospects of the 'two-week circuit-breaker' lockdown that include a ban on indoor mixing to curb the ravaging wave of coronavirus from the Omicron variant during Christmas. The stringent clampdown will restrict the indoor meetings from different households, except for important and work purposes, and will limit the public venues from servicing indoor. The pubs and restaurants will be allowed to cater outdoor only. 

The decision will be taken in a Cobra meeting set to be held over the weekend. The Times, UK reports that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was given several options including the so-called plan C that involves a transition from the "mild guidance to nudge people, right through to lockdown” as the COVID-19 situation slips out of control for the UK. 

The "circuit breaker” lockdown may be most likely imposed across the UK as the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies [SAGE] reportedly told the UK government that "more stringent" measures will be needed "very soon" in order to protect the NHS as the Omicron is set to become the dominant strain. Even as the British Prime Minister resisted the calls to tighten restrictions in the past after most rules were eased after the Delta strain wave, his scientific advisers are now pressurizing him to enter lockdown in order to keep the hospital admissions low and avert the burden on NHS. 

The daily coronavirus cases shot past 90,000 for the second day in the UK, driven by the highly mutated and transmissible B.1.1.529 variant of concern. At least 7 Omicron deaths have also been reported. UK recorded a whopping 10,059 infections in a matter of 24 hours that pushed the country’s confirmed Omicron cases to 24,968. A major incident was declared by the London mayor owing to the rising trajectory, as the city registered the highest ever daily increase of coronavirus cases on Dec. 18. 

Lockdown timing 'crucial', hospitalizations expected to rise: Johson's medical advisors

UK Prime Minister’s medical advisors have warned that the hospitalizations are expected to shoot and will soon reach at least 3,000 a day. "If the aim is to reduce the levels of infection in the population and prevent hospitalisations reaching these levels, more stringent measures would need to be implemented very soon," ITV quoted the medical advisors as saying. The ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown will include strict clampdowns on nonessential movement, including  "reducing group sizes, increasing physical distancing, reducing the duration of contacts, and closing high-risk premises,” the network confirmed. 

These restrictions will be the same as Step Two protocols that were lifted in mid-January.  A lockdown will be implemented in the UK before the new year, as the SAGE scientist has stressed that delay would be too late, sources told BBC. Any delay in introducing stricter measures until 2022 would "greatly reduce the effectiveness of such interventions and make it is less likely that these would prevent considerable pressure on health and care settings,” the BBC quoted the SAGE advisors as saying. They also emphasized that the timing of this lockdown "is crucial".