últimas notícias

Earlier in the day, Allegra Stratton, a senior aide, resigned after a video emerged on Tuesday of her and other aides joking last year about whether an illicit party had been held.

When the government outlined its contingency measures earlier this year, it said that it hoped not to have to use them. But officials added that, if they had to institute the plan, it would only ask people to work from home for a limited period.

“The government recognizes this causes more disruption and has greater immediate costs to the economy and some businesses than the other Plan B interventions. A final decision would be made based on the data at the time,” a statement said at the time.

Even before the latest announcement, Mr. Johnson had already taken one of the contingency steps — making the wearing of masks mandatory on all public transportation in England as of last week. Britain has also tightened restrictions on travelers entering the country since the Omicron variant was first reported.

Britain’s Health Security Agency, which monitors the coronavirus outbreak in the country, released new data on Wednesday that it said “suggests that Omicron is displaying a significant growth advantage over Delta” meaning that the new variant is likely to outcompete Delta and become the dominant variant in Britain.

“It is increasingly evident that Omicron is highly infectious and there is emerging laboratory and early clinical evidence to suggest that both vaccine-acquired and naturally acquired immunity against infection is reduced for this variant,” Susan Hopkins, the chief medical adviser to the agency said in a statement. “It is therefore absolutely critical that we all do everything that we can to help break the chains of transmission and slow the spread of this new variant.”