An emergency Cobra meeting will take place this afternoon to discuss the pandemic and spread of the Omicron variant.
Michael Gove, minister for intergovernmental relations, will chair the meeting alongside the first ministers and deputy first minister of the devolved administrations.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Cobra will discuss Covid-19 data and ongoing coordination work.”
It is expected to take place mid-afternoon and comes amid warnings from the government’s scientific advisers that Omicron could trigger the biggest wave yet.
The UK Health Security Agency identified a further 249 Omicron cases on Thursday, almost twice the number announced the day before, bringing the UK total to 817.
Asked why Gove was holding a Cobra now after initially rejecting Nicola Sturgeon’s request for a meeting last week, the spokesman said they thought it was a “sensible time” given the ongoing situation with Omicron.
It comes as the government’s fresh covid measures came into force in England today, with masks mandatory in cinemas, theatres, museums and churches.
Health secretary Sajid Javid has warned that the number of UK Omicron infections could hit one million by the end of the month and insisted the new measures are necessary to “build our collective defences”.
Friday’s measures come ahead of a return to working from home on Monday and mandatory Covid passports for large venues from Wednesday as part of the government’s “Plan B”.
However, the tougher measures have sparked anger from Conservative MPs and fuelled allegations that the restrictions were introduced as an attempt to distract from the Prime Minister’s troubles over an alleged staff party in Downing Street during last December’s lockdown.
Meanwhile, some reports suggest that care homes could be slapped with fresh restrictions in the run up to Christmas and masks made compulsory in pubs and restaurants under a tougher ‘Plan C’ being considered by ministers.
The Daily Telegraph cited an anonymous government source saying it was “very likely” social care visitors will be limited to only three designated people.
Separately, Public Health Scotland urged people to cancel their Christmas parties, in a bid to slow the spread of the latest coronavirus variant.
However, the message contradicts Boris Johnson’s suggestion that parties in England should still go ahead despite a call for to work from home.
The Scottish government said it was “highly probable” that Omicron will become the dominant variant of Covid-19 in Scotland.
An evidence paper published ahead of a briefing by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon states the rate at which cases of the new variant double is between 2.16 days and 2.66 days.
It says: “Based on the data presented in this paper which is up to and including December 9, it is highly probable that Omicron will outcompete Delta and become the dominant variant within Scotland very quickly, with the potential to cause high case numbers.”
