UK PM Boris Johnson hopes to 'ride out' Omicron wave

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday recommended to his Cabinet that England does not need to impose further lockdown restrictions as he hopes to ride out the Omicron wave of COVID-19, which hit another daily record high with 218,724 infections.

In the first Cabinet meeting of the New Year, Johnson laid out his plans to continue with Plan B measures which include mandatory face coverings, work from home where possible guidance and COVID vaccination certificate checks for larger events.

Johnson also announced plans for 100,000 critical workers to take daily tests from January 10 in order to keep infections under closer check and address the issue of large-scale self-isolating staff absences.

"As our NHS moves to a war footing, I will be recommending to Cabinet that we continue with Plan B, Johnson said during a Downing Street briefing on Tuesday evening.

"We have a chance to ride out this Omicron wave without shutting down our country once again. We can keep our schools and our businesses open, and we can find a way to live with this virus," he said.

There is speculation that the requirement for confirmatory PCR tests to follow positive lateral flow antigen tests could be scrapped. It has been reported that health officials have drawn up plans to limit PCR tests to those with symptoms, allowing those who are asymptomatic about 40 per cent of cases to return to work more quickly. People who test positive on lateral flow home testing kits will still need to isolate for at least seven days.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) so far requires everyone in England to take a follow-up PCR test if they receive a positive lateral flow result and then count their isolation period from the date of the PCR result.

"We continue to review PCR availability and continue to make more PCR booking slots available every day," the UKHSA said.

There are also reports that compulsory pre-arrival tests for international travellers coming to England may be scrapped, with the travel industry urging the government for change as they have no real impact given the extremely high rate of Omicron transmission within the community.

A UK government spokesperson said that they keep all measures "under review", adding that the temporary testing requirements were introduced to "prevent additional Omicron cases from entering the UK, stopping people from passing it on to others if they are infected".

Meanwhile, the UK's National Health Service (NHS) continues to face added pressures with up to 12 trusts having to suspend some less urgent treatments amid staffabsences due to COVID-19.

The NHS is under huge pressure. I won't provide a definition of what being overwhelmed would constitute because I think that different trusts and different places, at different moments, will feel at least temporarily overwhelmed, admitted Boris Johnson, when asked about the pressures.

Reiterating his message for people to come forward for the vaccines, the UK prime minister warned that it would be an "absolute folly" to say the pandemic is over even though it seemed that Omicron "is plainly milder" than other variants.

Looking at the pressures on the NHS in the next couple of weeks and maybe longer, looking at the numbers of people who are going into hospital, it would be absolute folly to say that this thing is all over now bar the shouting, he said.

"We have got to remain cautious, we have got to remain with Plan B, we have got to get boosted," he added.

According to latest UK data, fewer people are being admitted to intensive care units (ICU) with Omicron than previous variants and most of those in hospital with COVID-19 have not had a booster vaccine dose.