On December 5, 2021, people walk past a Selfridge's store on Oxford Street amid the coronaviruses disease COVID 19 outbreak in London, Britain. REUTERS Henry Nicholls
LONDON, December 8, Reuters -- Britain could implement tougher COVID 19 measures, including advice to work from home, as early as Thursday in a bid to slow the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronaviruses, according to media reports.
Johnson could announce the new Plan B as soon as Wednesday, which could also include COVID passports for large venues, according to reports, citing unnamed government sources.
Times Radio presenter Tom Newton Dunn said on Twitter that a source told him that Plan B was 85% likely. A spokesman for Johnson's office said they had no immediate comment.
At the end of its December meeting, investors scaled back their bets on the Bank of England raising interest rates on December 16, and Sterling and British government bond yields fell as a result of the reports.
Johnson was facing a backlash after a video emerged showing his staff laughing and joking about how to explain a gathering in Downing Street during a Christmas COVID lockdown last year, when such festivities were banned.