Johnson imposes COVID-19 'Plan B' in England
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday imposed tougher COVID-19 restrictions in England.
Dubbed “Plan B,” to slow the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, Johnson ordered people to work from home, wear masks in public places and use vaccine passes for access to nightclubs and venues with large crowds.
JOHNSON: "I want to be absolutely clear with you. I don't believe we can keep going indefinitely with non-pharmaceutical interventions - I mean restrictions on people's way of life - just because a substantial proportion of the population still, sadly, has not got vaccinated. And I think we're going to need to have a national conversation about the way forward and the other things that we can do to protect those who are hard to reach, who haven't got vaccinated for one reason or other, who may have medical reasons why they can't get vaccinated, other ways of protecting them.''
The news comes as Johnson faces a backlash after a video surfaced showing senior Downing Street staff laughing about holding a Christmas Party during lockdown a year ago.
The video, leaked to the UK's ITV on Tuesday, shows Johnson's staff, including his former press secretary Allegra Stratton, holding a mock press conference, joking and laughing about a Downing Street Christmas party "on Friday night", when such festivities were banned.
Stratton has now resigned from her current role as a government spokesperson.
While still a long way from the full lockdowns imposed earlier in the pandemic, the new measures were described as a "hammer blow" for city centre restaurants, cafes and shops that are desperate for Christmas trade to rebuild their finances.
Many lawmakers in Johnson's own party are also angry with the new restrictions, fearing the impact they will have after the economy shrank by a historic 10% last year.
