People warned by Boris Johnson to expect new controls to curb spread of Omicron as Christmas looms

Following a special two-hour meeting of the Cabinet, the prime minister said they were monitoring the data ‘hour by hour’.

However, he said the arguments for taking action were ‘very, very finely balanced’ – indicating fresh measures were unlikely before Christmas.

‘Unfortunately I must say to people that we will have to reserve the possibility of taking further action to protect the public, to protect public health, to protect our NHS,’ he said.

‘We are looking at all kinds of things to keep Omicron under control and we will rule nothing out.

‘But at the moment, what I think we want people to focus on is exercising caution – so ventilation, masks in the appropriate places, all the usual stuff about washing hands, but remember how contagious Omicron really is.’

SEE ALSO: Shoppers urge caution over Omicron

The government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty briefed the meeting earlier.

Downing Street denied it was an emergency meeting, saying ministers were being updated on a fast-changing situation.

It comes after the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) warned daily hospital admissions could reach 3,000 without further restrictions.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Subscribe here for unlimited access to all our coverage, including Pompey, for just 26p a day.