Covid restrictions will not be tightened in England before the New Year, Boris Johnson has decided after reviewing the latest data on the spread of the omicron variant.

It means there will be no limits on the number of people who can gather for New Year’s Eve parties – an issue around which there had been a lack of clarity in the last week.

Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, is expected to announce the position in comments to TV reporters to be aired later today. It means that Parliament will not be recalled this week.

Yet uncertainty remains about whether new rules could come into effect at the start of January, with government sources stressing the data is being carefully monitored day-by-day. 

Downing Street is also continuing to encourage people to be cautious, stressing that the pandemic still poses a threat and people should take lateral flow tests before attending gatherings.

The decision not to bring in new restrictions before January was taken after Mr Johnson gathered to go through the latest omicron data with government scientists on Monday.

It is understood that while there was an uptick in the number of people in hospital with omicron, it was in line with data suggesting the variant could cause milder illness than previous variants.

No need for ‘accelerator’

A senior government source told The Telegraph: “There was nothing to immediately show we need to put on the accelerator. 

“We need to remain cautious but this shows the importance of people getting their boosters.”

On Monday, Mr Johnson was due to discuss the latest data with Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser.

Conservative MPs have urged caution in going beyond Plan B in England, with Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the veteran Tory, calling for a “wait and see” approach to the impact of infections on hospital admissions.

Sir Geoffrey said he hoped the Prime Minister would be “very cautious before introducing further measures”, as he pushed for people to be able to “make their own decisions” when it came to taking precautions against infection.

In a sign the population could be curbing its own behaviour after Christmas, retail bosses said they had experienced a “muted start” to the post-Christmas sales. A high street expert suggested that footfall on Boxing Day was half the pre-pandemic level.

Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of The West End Company, which represents 600 business across Oxford Street, Bond Street, Regent Street and in Mayfair, said the turnout was largely due to the emergence of the omicron variant.

The comments come as curbs on hospitality and large events were brought in for those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with the Scottish Government ordering nightclubs to be shuttered from Monday while hospitality businesses will need to return to offering only table service if serving alcohol.

England is currently under the UK Government’s Plan B rulebook, with guidance to work from home, mask wearing in shops and other public settings, and Covid passes to gain entry to large events.

Rest of UK ‘out of step’ with England

Cotswolds MP Sir Geoffrey, asked whether he was concerned that England was “out of step” with the rest of the UK in terms of omicron restrictions, was critical of the decisions taken by the devolved administrations.

The treasurer of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservatives told Times Radio: “I think the principalities are out of step with England.

“I think they have been overly cautious, I think they are doing more damage to their economies than they need to, I think they are doing more damage to people’s liberties than they need to.

“I just don’t think the evidence, unless the data coming out today looks very different, is there for any further measures.”

Mr Johnson has yet to announce any further rules for England but has indicated he will not hesitate to act after Christmas if required amid rising cases of the omicron variant.

The Government, according to reports, may choose to issue new voluntary guidance on limiting contacts rather than risk another damaging Tory rebellion by recalling Parliament to impose new rules beyond the existing Plan B measures.

Sir Geoffrey said, should the Prime Minister choose to upscale the measures required to tackle omicron, it would “not be a cop-out at all” to introduce them as guidance, adding: “I think that would be a very sensible way to go forward.”

The Times reported that, even if more measures are imposed, plans are being drawn up so that weddings and funerals – deemed “significant life events” – would be exempt from any new rules and disruption.

‘We’re all looking at the data really, really carefully’

NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson said it was not yet known how Christmas mixing among younger and older people, many of whom have had a booster vaccination, would impact on hospital demand.

He told Times Radio: “I think we’re all looking at the data really, really carefully.

“The bit that we just simply don’t know yet is that most of the Covid-19 admissions tend to be in people who are younger … So what we’re really waiting to see is exactly what is going to happen over the next few days, stroke week, particularly because we know there was a lot of intergenerational mixing at Christmas.”

Mr Hopson said the numbers of people in hospital with coronavirus was “definitely starting to increase” and that the country needed to be “ready to bring in tighter protections in terms of restrictions on social contact” if admissions continued to rise.

Adam Finn, professor of paediatrics at the University of Bristol, said the number of staff absences due to Covid infections was likely to play a part in the Government’s thinking on whether to go further than Plan B.

“Clearly there are still large numbers of new cases being detected,” he told PA.

“I assume that hospital bed occupancy and staff absences due to isolation rules will be the critical factors on the public health side of any decision.”

Stephen Barclay, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was due to chair a meeting on Monday, according to The Times, on how to mitigate the impact of absences in the healthcare sector.