Do what is necessary to preserve ‘the things that mean the most to you’
NEWCASTLE HEALTH BOSS URGES CAUTION THIS CHRISTMAS AS GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES PLAN B RULES TO COMBAT OMICRON VARIANT
PEOPLE must act now to avoid spreading the Omicron Covid variant and save what matters most to them this Christmas, a North East health chief has urged.
Prof Eugene Milne, Newcastle’s director of public health, has advised that residents do what is necessary to preserve “the things that mean the most to you” this festive season after the Government announced new Plan B rules in response to the emergence of the latest virus strain.
Face masks are being made mandatory again in more indoor locations like cinemas and theatres, vaccine passports will be required to enter many venues, and people are being asked to work from home again from next Monday if they can.
However, there are currently no face covering requirements in pubs or restaurants and Boris Johnson has said that events like work Christmas parties and school nativity plays can still go ahead in spite of the Omicron threat.
The variant, thought to spread much faster than the Delta strain of coronavirus, is expected to become dominant in the UK over the coming weeks, and it is thought that vaccines offer less protection against it - though it has not been determined whether Omicron causes more severe illness.
With Christmas now just over two weeks away and uncertainty over the extent of Omicron’s dangers, Prof Milne has suggested that people take extra precautions in order to make sure they can spend time with their loved ones during the holidays.
He said: “I would urge caution.
The measures we have been using throughout the pandemic will continue to protect people from being personally exposed and from spreading the virus to others.
“What I would advise is to choose the things that mean the most to you and will matter the most over Christmas and prioritise those. Any additional action you take to reduce the spread of infection is going to help.
“Don’t go out somewhere if you are symptomatic, take tests, wear face masks in public places wherever possible.
“At Christmas and at events with your loved ones people are going to be mixing. You can preserve that by being safe in as many other places as possible.”
Prof Milne added that he thought it was “very wise” for Plan B rules to come into force now, with Omicron cases rapidly rising.
Asked if taking stricter measures
now to curb its spread would be more effective, the health expert said: “If we told everybody to stay in their room for the next month then you would completely abolish spread, and if nobody did anything then you would see it spread very widely.
“By saying work from home if possible so that you reduce workplace-based contact then you reduce the opportunities for viral spread.
“I think the decision taken nationally, and I do understand, is to find a compromise between reducing that overall risk without basically ruining everyone’s Christmas again.
“If you reduce the number of contacts you have in a day by half or more then you are going to have an impact on the likelihood of spread.”