Speaking at a Downing Street news conference on Wednesday evening, the prime minister announced the measures in the government's 'Plan B' for dealing with COVID-19 this winter
It marks the second day in a row that more than 100 cases of the new variant have been reported.
The prime minister added that, while there were"some limits" to what could be learned from South Africa, the UK was seeing a growth in cases that"mirrors the rapid increases previously seen in South Africa". He acknowledged the"remorseless logic of exponential growth" of Omicron in the UK could lead to"a big rise in hospitalisations and therefore, sadly, in deaths".The prime minister said the"single biggest thing that every one of us can do" was to get vaccinated and"crucially" to get a booster dose as soon as invited to do so.
In total, the UK has recorded 51,342 new COVID cases in the last 24 hours and a further 161 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus.Mr Johnson made the announcement of fresh COVID measures as he deals with a furiousin 10 Downing Street last December, when strict coronavirus rules were in place.
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