Experts warned that activating Plan B might not suffice to save Christmas or protect the NHS against an incoming Omicron wave, warning today.
Fears that the health care system could become overwhelmed this winter are causing No10 to consider bowing. An official announcement is expected to be made today or tomorrow.
Ministers are expected to unveil a blanket order to work from home where possible and extend compulsory mask-wearing to all settings.
Scientists are worried the extra restrictions won’t do enough to prevent an onslaught of infections.
Prof Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is an expert on European public health and criticized No10’s ‘inexplicable decision’ not to take action earlier.
MailOnline was informed by Independent SAGE member that he believes a more severe crackdown on indoor mixing is needed for Christmas.
Under the winter plan set out in the autumn, Plan B would include vaccine passports, advice to work from home — rather than a mandate — and compulsory face masks indoors.
Last week, shops and public transport were covered again. However, the coverage could also be extended to bars, restaurants and cinemas as part of this plan.
Professor Martin McKee (left), an expert in European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told MailOnline that further restrictions to reduce mixing, especially indoors, over Christmas may be needed to prevent cases becoming unmanageable because of Omicron. Professor Christina Pagel (right), a mathematician at University College London, said more working from home and more mask-wearing will help reduce the wave — but she suggested vaccine passports would be neither necessary nor effective
MailOnline received a statement from Professor Paul Hunter of the University of East Anglia. He said that Plan B was sufficient to contain Delta. However, Omicron would require more. Scientists believe Omicron is far more easily transmissible.
MailOnline was told by Professor McKee that it is unexplicable how we have lost sight of the need to act quickly and decisively in dealing with new variants.
‘The vaccines have been incredibly important — but we are now faced with a new variant that seems able to escape immunity, at least to some extent.
However, we have other options to minimize mixing especially indoors. However, the new variant is so transmissible we can’t rule anything out.’
Paul Hunter from the University of East Anglia is a professor of public health and argues that Plan B would have sufficed to manage Delta.
He warned that Omicron would not be stopped easily, as scientists think it is much more transmissible.
MailOnline was informed by Professor Hunter that he doubts that if we had done more to prevent Omicron from spreading for so long, we would still have been able to do much.
Helen Salisbury (a British GP and lecturer in medical communications at the University of Oxford) said that Britain should consider taking further steps than Plan B.
She appealed to Britons via social media to refrain from Christmas parties, despite the imminent restrictions to stop the wave.
“Wear a mask and work at home. Open the windows.” She stated. [and get a]Take your third dose as soon possible.
And ‘Professor Lockdown’ Neil Ferguson today suggested that another nationwide shutdown could be needed to deal with the variant.
A Government scientist whose modeling put No10 in lockdown last spring said that it was possible to return stay-at-home orders, should the mutant strain overthrow the NHS.
WFH was not meant to stop the process, but slow it down. It could also buy precious time and prolong the nation’s doubling period by five to six days.
He added, “It doesn’t seem like much but it’s potentially a lot for us in terms of allowing to characterise the virus better, and boost population immunity.
When asked directly if a lockdown could possibly be reinstated, he said on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme that if consensus exists that it is highly probable that the NHS will become overwhelmed it would be up to the Government to make that decision. However, it is a very difficult situation.
“It is possible, at this time.
Others have suggested that Plan B should suffice to stop the spread of infection over Christmas.
Professor Christina Pagel, a mathematician at University College London, said more working from home and more mask-wearing will help reduce the wave — but she suggested vaccine passports would be neither necessary nor effective.
She added, “I believe many elements of Plan B can help slow spread.
“But vaccine passports are completely pointless, when we’ve already seen Omicron superspreader events in fully-vaccinated groups.”
Some have also questioned the necessity of the restrictions, saying they slow down the inevitable.
David Livermore from the University of East Anglia is a medial Microbiologist.
He told MailOnline: ‘It’s doubling down on failure. These restrictions have been in place for nearly two years now, but they’ve failed.
“We selected globally for transmissible viruses variants that are more common than omicron. The “leaky” vaccines that we have do help, particularly in preventing severe disease, but they won’t squeeze Delta out of circulation, let alone Omicron.
‘As with previous pandemics — notably that of 1889 to 1894, which may have been a coronavirus — Covid needs to be let to run its course. This means letting the virus “bed in to” the population, for it is with us for all the foreseeable future.
‘In a a year or two we’ll hit the same balance that we have with the four common cold coronaviruses.
“All of the plans B and C will only drag this process out a bit, at a further high cost.”