Mr Javid offered a note of reassurance on Sky News, saying: “I think people should continue with their plans as normal for Christmas and I think it is going to be a great Christmas.”

The Health Secretary also said that the Government was “nowhere near” bringing in restrictions such as requests for people to work from home or social distancing rules.

During his interviews Mr Javid was grilled on the details of the announcements that were made on Saturday, how exactly they would work and whether they went fast enough.

He defended the decision to make mask-wearing compulsory on public transport and in shops but not in the hospitality sector, arguing the response had to be “proportionate”.

And he said that those notified they had been in contact with someone with omicron would have to self-isolate even if they were NHS workers and lorry drivers, meaning no exemptions are expected for now.

On border rules, the Health Secretary accepted that scores of people arriving from South Africa on Friday had entered the UK without taking a Covid test.

The rule change that put the country and others on the red list only came into effect at noon on Friday, meaning flights that arrived that morning were unaffected.

Mr Javid said those people who had entered the UK from South Africa in the last 10 days were now being contacted and urged to take a Covid test.

The rule changes will be tabled in Parliament on Monday and come into effect on Tuesday, but it remains unclear when a vote of MPs will be held. 

Mr Javid said that a vote was only needed 28 days after the regulation change was tabled, meaning it may not happen until December.

He said on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: “The reason we’ve set out these measures yesterday is to protect the progress we’ve made so we can all continue to enjoy Christmas with our families.”