UK Government says all travellers are to take a PCR test amid confirmation of the Omicron variant.
Gatekeepers News reports that as part of efforts to address the new coronavirus variant, Omicron, the government of the United Kingdom says COVID-19 measures will be tightened in England from next week.
The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson announced this at a Downing Street news conference after it was confirmed that two Omicron cases had been detected in the UK.
Gatekeepers News earlier reported that the cases which were detected in Brentwood, Essex, and Nottingham were linked and connected to travel in southern Africa.
Johnson said the use of face coverings will become mandatory again in shops and on public transport, adding that the PCR tests will be introduced to everyone entering the UK.
The Prime Minister, however, said Christmas would be “considerably better” than 2020.
He added that the measures were “temporary and precautionary.”
The first case of the new variant was reported from South Africa on Wednesday, with early evidence suggesting it has a higher reinfection risk.
Johnson said, “Our scientists are learning more hour by hour, and it does appear that Omicron spreads very rapidly and can be spread between people who are double vaccinated.”
“We need to slow down the spread of this variant here in the UK because measures at the border can only ever minimise and delay the arrival of a new variant rather than stop it altogether.”
The Prime Minister noted that the new measures would be reviewed in three weeks, after which the government should have had better information about the “continuing effectiveness” of vaccines.
Although he added that “tightening up” of the mask rules will be outlined by the Health Secretary, Sajid Javid “in the next day or so”, he did not indicate when PCR tests would begin and the Department of Health only disclosed that the measures will be “introduced from next week”.
In 2020, COVID-19 restrictions were tightened across the UK days before Christmas amid a surge in cases.
