Boris Johnson has pushed ahead Covid’s new frontiers amid fears of a dramatic increase in Omicron differences, as his government is embroiled in a crisis of loyalty caused by the Christmas party scandal.
With government experts warning of 10 UK Omicron diseases currently rising to 1m by the end of the month and reaching 2,000 XNUMX in hospitals a day, Johnson stressed that now is the time to take action.
But Wednesday night’s announcement about the launch of program B comes amid allegations that Johnson’s staff violated the door-closing rules last year. Workers say he has lost his “moral authority” and some of his members of Parliament are questioning why the public should follow legal advice.
At a press conference on Downing Street, Johnson said people should work from home where possible from Monday and that a face mask would be a legal requirement in many indoor public areas such as theaters and cinemas from Friday, without having to worry about eating and drinking in hostels.
Vaccination passports available to double-vaccinated workers in the NHS program will be required for those who want to go to large venues, which may be full of people as nightclubs from next week. But Johnson stressed that there is no need to cancel Christmas parties or birthday parties, and nightclubs will remain open.
There will be a parliamentary vote on the limits next week, and the government is expected to deal with the uprising. The health secretary, Sajid Javid, is puzzled by Commons as he announces program B.
Johnson was quickly under pressure for the decision to bring new boundaries at a time when No. 10 was on fire for a Christmas party when entertainment was banned last year.
William Wragg, a Member of Parliament for Tory, accused the prime minister of “divisive tactics”, while Mark Harper, a former chief whip, questioned why anyone “did things that people at No 10 Downing Street did not intend to do”.
Johnson was also widely criticized by Douglas Ross, the leader of the Scottish Tories, who said the prime minister should resign if he misled the Commons, and Ruth Davidson, a former Scottish Tory leader, who said: “None of this can be far-fetched. They are not dead. Or obviously denying things that can easily be proved.