The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson said Wednesday that the country would impose a vaccine-or-test rule for some crowded spaces.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in London.
The images are from the same company.
Johnson encouraged people in England to work from home if possible starting Monday.
Johnson will require people to show proof of either full Covid-19 vaccine or a negative coronaviruses test to enter nightclubs and other large crowded indoor settings in England, as well as unseated outdoor venues with over 4,000 people and any venues with more than 10,000 seats.
The government made masks compulsory in stores and on public transportation on November 30.
The new rules are designed to give us more time to get Covid-19 vaccine booster doses for more U.K. residents.
According to government figures, 81% of U.K. residents ages 12 and up are fully vaccined against Covid-19.
Johnson said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference that they can't yet assume that omicron is less severe than previous versions. While the picture may get better, and I sincerely hope that it will, we know that the remorseless logic of exponential growth could lead to a big rise in hospitalizations and therefore, sadly, in deaths.
The number is big.
548. There have been many cases of the omicron variant confirmed in the United Kingdom. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the country could have 10,000 infections.
The key background.
Omicron was first seen in Africa last month. Some experts warn that the variant may be more transmissible than previous forms of the coronaviruses and that it may be more likely to cause less severe illness than previous forms. The United States and the United Kingdom are two countries that have been pushed to tighten travel rules by the variant. In the last week, Britain has seen more than 48,000 new cases per day, and daily average case rates have hovered between 25,000 and 48,000 since early July, up from fewer than 2,000 per day in late April. The government drafted a set of coronaviruses restrictions in September, including mask mandates and vaccine requirements, but only intended to use them if the virus overwhelms the country's health system.
Some European countries have adopted tighter Covid-19 vaccine rules in recent weeks as the continent grapples with a spike in coronaviruses. Austria is set to lift its weeks-long national lockdown this weekend, but will keep restrictions in place for unvaccinated people.
