Covid: Firms urge PM for clarity on restrictions over Christmas

Hospitality and entertainment firms are calling for a clear decision from the government on whether to expect further Covid restrictions in England in the coming days.

Boris Johnson did not announce any new measures on Monday, but said data was being reviewed "hour by hour".

Labour's London mayor Sadiq Khan warned time was running out.

Meanwhile, the health secretary is understood to want people with Covid to isolate for seven days, instead of 10.

Sajid Javid is thought to be in favour of doing this - if clinical advice supports the change - to help ease potential staff shortages across the NHS and other organisations.

With just four days until Christmas, people are looking forward to spending the festive season with loved ones after many missed out last year, when restrictions were brought in just before Christmas.

BBC political correspondent Damian Grammaticas said it now seemed unlikely that new restrictions could be enacted in England before Christmas.

But hospitality and entertainment businesses were facing critical decisions in the coming hours about whether to go ahead with or cancel events over the holiday period, he added.

The continuing sharp rise in UK case numbers is already affecting events across the country:

After a two-hour cabinet meeting on Monday, the prime minister said the government was "looking at all kinds of things" to keep the Omicron variant under control and "ruled nothing out".

There were still some things "we need to be clearer about before we decide to go further", he added.

Ministers have argued that more information about the new variant is needed to justify the economic impact of any restrictions.

Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg said that instead of imposing restrictions, the government should trust people to make the right decisions to protect their families, reports the Times.

Last Christmas, large parts of south-east England were banned from mixing with other households, while for the rest of England, Scotland and Wales, people were only allowed to mix indoors on Christmas Day.

"An event cancelled is better than a life cancelled," said WHO head Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

On Monday, a further 91,743 Covid cases were reported across the UK - the second highest daily total on record.

The high case numbers have meant many people are now off work and self isolating - while others have cancelled bookings or events to try to avoid becoming infected in the run-up to Christmas, hitting businesses hard.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality which represents more than 700 bars, hotels and leisure venues, said some had lost about half of their usual December trade.

She said businesses were now "in limbo" and needed notice of any changes looked at next week ahead of the New Year.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also called for the government to provide support to the hospitality, retail and culture sectors - warning that millions of livelihoods depended on them.

Labour has called for the government to publish its contingency plan to deal with staff shortages in essential services due to rising case numbers.

The party's deputy leader Angela Rayner said "dithering and delay" had caused disruption throughout the pandemic.

Without early interventions the UK would see a wave of infections over the next few months, according to Sage scientist Prof Andrew Hayward, which could lead to staffing problems becoming "much, much more severe" and make essential services "difficult to manage".

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has criticised Mr Johnson's "indecision", arguing he was providing chaos and confusion when clarity and reassurance was needed.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has given guidance about Christmas Day in Scotland, saying people should reduce their contacts in the coming days but can continue their plans for Christmas Day gatherings.

She said this would not change, explaining that she wanted people "to have clarity about what we are expecting of them".

Meanwhile, in Wales spectators will be banned from all sports events from 26 December to try to control the spread of Omicron and ministers will meet later to discuss post-Christmas hospitality restrictions.

Wales has already ordered nightclubs to close from 27 December and will introduce other measures, such as social distancing in workplaces.

The executive in Northern Ireland is due to meet on Wednesday to discuss current restrictions - including a limit of 30 people from different households mixing in homes and a Covid pass scheme for some venues - and decide on the next steps to take.

And the BBC has been told that civil servants have produced three options for future Covid measures, ranging in severity from low to medium and high.