Tests and masks for Christmas parties? Javid says he would take a lateral flow and wear a covering

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There are ‘no guarantees’ that there won’t be a lockdown this Christmas, the Health Secretary warned today.

In an ominous shift in tone from recent days, Sajid Javid told Good Morning Britain another festive shutdown was ‘not the plan’, but said: ‘We can’t rule out any particular measure at this point in time because we always have to look at the data and do what we need to protect people.’

He also urged people to take Covid tests before going to Christmas parties and wear facemasks while partying amid mounting fears about the so-called ‘Omicron’ variant.  

During a Downing Street press conference yesterday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged people not to cancel Christmas parties or school nativity plays. He also promised to ‘throw everything’ at the booster vaccination campaign to tackle the virus’s spread. 

But his government has now been accused of ‘mixed messaging’ after UK Health Security Agency chief executive Dr Jenny Harries recommended people reduce the extent to which they socialise this winter – in a hint that restrictions could go further. 

Fears of an extension of curbs were raised last night after it emerged that new rules on self-isolation will be enshrined in law until the end of March next year – way beyond the promised December 21 review date. Conservative MPs warned of another ‘pingdemic’ devastating the economy and education system – concerns dismissed by the Health Secretary today.

Last night, the Commons overwhelmingly approved the Government’s new Covid regulations, with just a handful of Tories rebelling. Former minister Steve Baker said ‘we are taking away the public’s right to choose what they do based on flimsy and uncertain evidence’, while Sir Christopher Chope branded the restrictions ‘oppressive, authoritarian and dictatorial’. 

Asked if he would wear a mask if he was at a Christmas party, Mr Javid told Sky News’s Kay Burley: ‘It depends if I am walking around or sitting down. It depends if I’m eating. People just need to make a decision based on the guidance.’  

Hospitality leaders now fear another hammering to their industry this December. Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UKHospitality, told Radio 4’s Today programme that Saturday’s press conference had had a ‘chilling effect on consumer confidence’. She warned against ‘the threat of a stop-start to the economy again’ in the run up to Christmas. 

New curbs on global travel including the addition of 10 countries to the UK’s so-called ‘red list’, a return of testing rules, and quarantine hotels have also spooked travellers – and sparked a wave of cancellations of bookings at airport hotels.   

In the latest twist and turn of the coronavirus crisis: 

New rules on self-isolation will be enshrined in law until March, sparking fears the curbs could remain in place beyond December 21;The Health Secretary denied allegations that the Prime Minister and his Downing Street staff broke Covid rules by attending two parties last December; Labour urged the Government to introduce pre-departure testing for all people before they fly to the UK’;Sage adviser Professor Andrew Hayward said there was a need to keep an eye on Omicron growth as ‘small numbers can turn to big numbers quite quickly’;Boss of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, said some NHS organisations had asked staff ‘not to mix in big groups’ in the run-up to Christmas; ONS data showed a total of 170,816 deaths have occurred in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate;NHS waiting lists could double to 12 million by 2025 despite billions more in taxpayers’ cash being pumped into our hospital wards, a report has found;Coronavirus cases in South Africa have soared by 403 per cent in a week, after the country’s scientists sounded the alarm about the Omicron variant;Businesses warned Mr Johnson last night that the ‘chilling effect’ of Covid restrictions will cost the economy ‘billions’ in the run-up to Christmas.

Questioned on whether he was anticipating another ‘pingdemic’, Mr Javid insisted: ‘At this point in time the case numbers are very low. That will certainly go up but the numbers are low. I hope it stays that way. I’m not worried about a ”pingdemic” type of situation.’

He later told Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘If you are invited to a Christmas party, there’s quite a few people there, maybe you want to take an LFT (lateral flow test) before you go. Go to the party, but just be cautious.’

Hospitality chiefs warned of a growing ‘sense of trepidation’ among customers that their Christmas plans might be disrupted for the second year running.

Ms Nicholls of UKHospitality told the Today programme: ‘I think you are seeing once again a return of uncertainty.

‘It’s quite clear the messaging over the weekend had a chilling effect on consumer confidence and we are starting to see a small number of cancellations. It’s a trickle at the moment, and we were very pleased that the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary yesterday did say that the measures they had put in place were sufficient and that people could feel confident about going ahead with Christmas bookings and Christmas parties, which is so essential for hospitality.

‘But we need that message to be reinforced more strongly to put an end to the uncertainty and the threat of a stop-start to the economy again in the run up to Christmas.

‘I think it’s driven largely by consumer confident. I think there’s also a sense of trepidation that their plans might be disrupted again, and so that irrespective of whether there are government controls imposed on the economy, that is having a cooling effect undoubtedly on hospitality.

‘We already saw that bookings were subdued this year compared to pre-pandemic levels. And this will clearly have a further adverse impact on our businesses.’

The Arora Group said travellers who stay at hotels at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports before catching early morning flights are axing their December bookings. They are even suspending corporate events at the four-star Fairmont in Windsor in January due to mounting uncertainty about the spread of the Covid variant, group chairman Surinder Arora said.

He told the Today programme: ‘It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Obviously we had the quarantine hotels at the beginning of this year, and then over the past few weeks as we’ve been trying to return to some kind of normality, most of the hotels have gone back to operating normal commercial hotels.

‘And then of course last week we were hit with this new virus, so sadly that’s all changed again and the Government’s obviously introduced 10 new countries on the red list which means they need a few hotels to go on the quarantine programme.

‘Over the last few weeks, when the quarantine finished we were thankful for getting back to some kind of normality. Since this latest news, instead of getting new bookings the guys are getting a lot of cancellations.

‘We obviously have a lot of transient, a lot of leisure business, with guests flying out of the country – Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted – normally tend to spend a night with us before they travel, especially early morning flights. And now a lot of those are being cancelled.

‘And not just the leisure business, were getting quite a few bookings cancelled for meetings and events. I know, for instance, some of the larger bookings – we just recently opened our new flagship at the Fairmont in Windsor, and they actually had big large corporates who had bookings in January who are saying ”actually, we may want to push it back to further, later in the year to get some more clarity on where we’re heading”.’

It comes as Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, said some NHS organisations had asked staff ‘not to mix in big groups’ in the run-up to Christmas owing to fears off staff absences.

She told Sky News this year was ‘very different’ to last year when ‘it was absolutely clear that nobody was going to a Christmas party’.

She added: ‘This year, we are in in a slightly different place – people will be taking their own decisions.

‘We know that many NHS trusts, for example, are asking their staff not to mix in big groups in the run-up to Christmas because of the potential threat to their health and what they will be available to do.

‘So, they are setting one example there.

‘I think, at the moment, without that advice for Government, I think it’s for individuals and individual organisations to think about what they will be doing in the run-up to Christmas. But it’s a really challenging and difficult one.

‘The thing we can encourage everyone to do is to go out and get their booster when it’s made available to them and to book in for that because that’s one of the best defences that we’ve got alongside wearing masks, washing your hands and also making sure you’re in ventilated rooms.’

Leaked minutes of a Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies meeting held on Monday, seen by the BBC, show that scientists believe booster jabs are likely to provide protection against severe disease, hospitalisation and death from most variants in the short term.

But the notes say: ‘Any significant reduction in protection against infection could still result in a very large wave of infections.

‘This would, in turn, lead to a potentially high number of hospitalisations even with protection against severe disease being less affected.’  

It comes as easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said bookings had ‘softened’ since the Omicron strain emerged and the Government brought in costly travel rules that will require passengers to isolate until they have a negative PCR test result regardless of their vaccination status.

Mr Lundgren, writing in the Daily Mail, pointed out airline shares had dropped 13 per cent within hours of the announcement of the change. ‘Ministers must ensure their decisions are backed by data and precautions are kept in proportion to the threat,’ he said.

And Emirates airline president Tim Clark said a hit to the peak December travel season – when millions across the world travel to see friends and family – would cause ‘significant traumas’ for businesses.

Critics have claimed that Mr Johnson’s announcements are an over-reaction, given that only 22 omicron cases have so far been found in England. And early signs are that the variant is a mild form of the virus.

They say the moves are contributing to a renewed climate of fear, hitting consumer confidence – with the hospitality sector especially hit. 

Clive Black, retail analyst at Shore Capital, said: ‘This will cost the economy billions. It is a calamity. Christmas parties are off.’

Writing in the Mail, Patrick Dardis, head of Young’s pubs, claimed: ‘Within hours of the country being told that a new variant of Covid had been identified, the phones started ringing in the 300 pubs, restaurants and hotels in the Young’s chain.

‘And it wasn’t good news: the cancellation of Christmas parties, dinner bookings scrapped, weekend events in December delayed until who knows when, mini-breaks binned. This scenario is being repeated up and down the land.’

Damian Wawrzyniak, an award-winning chef who runs House of Feasts in Peterborough, told the BBC: ‘We had 20 cancellations over the weekend, mostly for Christmas parties. Hospitality has been waiting for Christmas and if it’s not what we were hoping for, there’s going to be some casualties.’

Meanwhile, Jonathan Neame, boss of Shepherd Neame – Britain’s oldest brewer – said: ‘We should hold our nerve, not panic and remember that most pandemics end with a mutation to a mild form of the disease.’

Bank of England policymaker Catherine Mann and Suren Thiru, head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, suggested GDP figures for the entire fourth quarter could be badly hit.

Hugh Osmond, founder of Punch Taverns who sued the Government over the lockdown on indoor hospitality earlier this year, added: ‘Fewer social contacts do not mitigate the risk. 

‘What they actually manage to do is they reduce temporarily the number of young people being infected and ultimately it means that over the long-term more old people catch the disease as the Sage model showed from the beginning. 

‘We know that at the moment the studies that have been out of Israel, South Africa, the UK and America that once you have been infected, none of the variants show more potentially. 

‘They do a little with vaccines, but variants will come and go – it’s very, very normal that viruses mutate, and variants will come and go.’ 

He told the Today programme: ‘You’ve got to remember that social interaction – after food and water – is the most important thing for a human being’s mental health. 

‘If you want to do something bad to human beings, after starving them and depriving them of water – the worst thing you can do to a human being in terms of affecting their health, and eventually physical health, is depriving them of social contact.’ 

Professor Andrew Hayward, a member of Sage from University College London, told Times Radio that if the variant was more transmissible ‘then it’s going to spread anyway, the question is at what speed and whether or not it’s going to peak before we get that extra protection in through vaccination’.

He said the aim was always to flatten the curve of any wave of infection, adding: ‘Now, you can do that by sort of starting to ramp up pressures early, or you can do it by slamming on the brakes later, and, I guess, I think we need to be looking very carefully over the next couple of weeks at what happens and not be afraid to go into Plan B, because that may help us not have to go into more severe levels later.’

Asked if people should perhaps be avoiding Christmas parties, he said: ‘I think it’s worth thinking of the sort of Covid control and what you can do as an individual in different layers, so you know, everything that you can do will make a difference – washing your hands, wearing masks when you’re around other people, trying to keep a bit of a distance, minimising those big large indoor social events.

‘I’m not saying don’t go to them at all, but I think it’s basically a cumulative thing, so the more exposures you’re having, the more likely you are to get it and spread it to other people.

‘I think there does need to be individual choice in this and people have different perceptions of risk and different levels of desire to go to these events, and I think we should respect that.’

On whether the UK has not gone hard enough with its measures against Omicron, Prof Hayward said: ‘I think it’s really very hard to judge these uncertainties and I think it does have to be a political decision.’

He said of the measures that were left: ‘Obviously we’ve introduced more masking into public transport and in shops, but we could be introducing that into other areas.

‘Obviously, the booster vaccination campaign is very welcome and I’m sure that will help, and really the the last thing on the cards is more social distancing and how seriously we take that.

‘I think, at the moment, one of my concerns is that there is an intensification of social mixing just in the run-up to Christmas and the timing of that is a bit unfortunate, given these circumstances.

‘I’m not saying that those events should be stopped or banned, but I think, you know, people might think about spending more time outside, trying to keep more of a distance, wearing masks at them, potentially taking tests before they go and potentially taking tests after they’ve been to one and before they go and visit their relatives at Christmas.’  

Boris Johnson insisted he had already put in place a package of ‘balanced and proportionate measures’ in response to the threat posed by the new variant as cases of Omicron reached 22 in the UK.

The mandatory wearing of facemasks in shops and on public transport came into force in England yesterday, along with tighter testing requirements for international travel and the return of self-isolation for contacts of confirmed Omicron cases, even if they have been fully vaccinated.

But it is the booster campaign which the Government believes provides the greatest line of defence against the new variant and the Prime Minister promised that everyone eligible would be offered a booster jab by the end of January with at least 400 military personnel helping the NHS, and vaccination centres ‘popping up like Christmas trees’.

Mr Javid said Omicron cases are likely to go higher and ‘we have to be realistic’ that there is already likely to be transmission within the community.

Dr Harries had earlier told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that even if ‘vaccines appear to be effective, but we find that the variant is more highly transmissible, having lowish grade infection, but in very large numbers of the population, (it) could still be a significant impact on our hospitals’.

‘And, of course, our behaviours in winter and particularly around Christmas, we tend to socialise more, so I think all of those will need to be taken into account,’ she added.

‘If we all decrease our social contacts a little bit, actually that helps to keep the variant at bay.’

She suggested ‘being careful, not socialising when we don’t particularly need to’ and getting a booster jab.

The comments caused alarm in the hospitality industry and helped fuel a Tory backbench revolt which saw Conservatives rebel over new restrictions.

Asked whether parties and Nativity plays should be scrapped, Mr Johnson said: ‘We don’t want people to cancel such events and we think that, overwhelmingly, the best thing for kids is to be at school, as I have said many times throughout this pandemic.’

He also rejected suggestions that advice on working from home should be reinstated in England, as is happening in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in response to the concerns about Omicron.

Scientists believe Omicron could be more transmissible than the dominant Delta variant and may render vaccines less effective because of the extent of its mutations.

Mr Johnson, who visited a festive food market set up in Downing Street after the press conference, will be asked about the Government’s approach again during Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons today.

In the Commons on Tuesday, 19 Tories – with two rebel tellers – opposed the mask-wearing measures.

Some 32 Conservatives rebelled by voting against the self-isolation regulations while two more acted as tellers for the noes, but the measures both comfortably passed.

Sir Graham Brady, who chairs the powerful Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, said there were ‘serious concerns’ about the ‘efficacy of what is being proposed’, and warned against ‘mission creep’.