Britain will be hit by new travel restrictions, heightened testing and the return of compulsory facemasks in shops under new curbs announced by Boris Johnson last night to combat the new Omicron variant of Covid.
Tens of thousands of winter holidays will be affected as those returning from anywhere abroad must take PCR tests and self-isolate until they receive a negative result.
As it emerged that one of the two people infected with the Omicron variant in the UK was double-jabbed, scientists at Britain's top secret Porton Down laboratory were studying swabs from the cases to determine how the 'super mutant' strain reacts to vaccines.
In another significant development, it was announced that anyone who comes into contact with someone infected with the new variant must self-isolate for ten days, regardless of their vaccination status.
Outlined by a businesslike Boris Johnson at a Downing Street press conference last night, the new rules – set to be in place for at least three weeks – were met with dismay by the travel industry.
A raft of new Covid rules were announced by PM Boris Johnson at a Downing Street press conference on Saturday (pictured)
Further details, including when the measures will come into force, are expected to be revealed by Ministers today
The return of mandatory facemasks in shops and on public transport was one of the new measures announced on Saturday
One chief executive described it as the 'worst Christmas present ever'.
Further details, including when the measures will come into force, are expected to be revealed by Ministers today.
It is understood that Scotland will impose similar restrictions.
In other developments yesterday:
Mr Johnson said that facemasks must also be worn on all public transport – but said there are no plans to extend the restrictions to pubs, restaurants or cinemas; It emerged that the two UK cases – in Nottingham and Brentwood, Essex – are linked, with both people thought to have recently returned from southern Africa; Heathrow announced it will now reopen its Terminal 4 arrivals hall for passengers arriving from red-list countries, who will be required to go to quarantine hotels; Officials added four more southern African countries – Angola, Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia – to the red list, taking the total to ten alongside South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimababwe and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), which were put on the list on Friday.Mr Johnson offered something of an apology to travellers for the new restrictions, saying: 'I'm afraid [they] may sound tough but that is just the way it's got to be.'
He described the rules on masks and border controls as 'targeted and proportionate measures' needed to give scientists time to understand how transmissible the Omicron variant was and how much it might evade vaccine protection.
'First, we need to slow down the seeding of this variant in our country,' he said.
'We need to buy time for our scientists to understand exactly what we are dealing with, and for us to get more people vaccinated and– above all – to get more people boosted; as well as to help our NHS prepare in what is an already challenging winter.'
While stressing that the Government is 'not going to stop people travelling', he said: 'We will require anyone who enters the UK to take a PCR test by the end of the second day after arrival, and to self-isolate until they have a negative result.'
In practice, that is likely to mean travellers will have to self-isolate for at least two days – and possibly longer – as most PCR tests take a minimum of 24 hours to come back. Day two testing packages typically cost between £90 and £100, meaning a family of five faces an added cost of £500 for a
