Sajid Javid has admitted that "it might take a bit longer than three weeks" to determine how bad the new omicron variant is, opening the door to Covid regulations being renewed ahead of Christmas.

       MPs last night approved regulations to restore mandatory mask wearing, new self-isolation rules and tougher travel restrictions, all of which are due to be reviewed in three weeks. However several Tory MPs - including some former ministers - rebelled, amid fears that the isolation rule could cause another pingdemic.

       The Health Secretary played that down, telling Sky News: "At this moment at time the case numbers are very low. They will certainly go up but the numbers are low. I am not worried about pingdemic-type situation."

       Asked about the 'arbitrary' decision to review restrictions in three weeks, he replied: "I wouldn't call it an arbitrary figure. Where you might be a bit right is that it might take a bit longer than three weeks.

       "We are confident that actually maybe within two weeks we will know a lot more about this. We may not even need to wait three weeks," Mr Javid added.

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       People should be allowed to decide whether they attend Christmas parties based on their own "perceptions of risk and different levels of desire", a Sage scientist has said.

       Asked if people should perhaps be avoiding Christmas parties, Professor Andrew Hayward told Times Radio: "I think it's worth thinking of the sort of Covid control and what you can do as an individual in different layers.

       "Everything that you can do will make a difference - washing your hands, wearing masks when you're around other people, trying to keep a bit of a distance, minimising those big large indoor social events.

       "I'm not saying don't go to them at all, but I think it's basically a cumulative thing, so the more exposures you're having, the more likely you are to get it and spread it to other people.

       "I think there does need to be individual choice in this and people have different perceptions of risk and different levels of desire to go to these events, and I think we should respect that."

       People should take a Covid test before going to a Christmas party, the Health Secretary has said.

       Sajid Javid told BBC Radio 4's Today programme people should be "sensible", amid concerns about the emerging omicron variant.

       "If you are invited to a Christmas party, there's quite a few people there, maybe you want to take an LFT (lateral flow test) test before you go. Go to the party, but just be cautious," he added.

       Asked if he would wear a mask if he was at a party, Mr Javid said: "It depends if I am walking around or sitting down. It depends if I'm eating. People just need to make a decision based on the guidance."

       People should have "a bit of common sense" as they make plans ahead of Christmas amid concerns about the omicron variant, Sajid Javid has said.

       The Health Secretary told LBC radio: "There's no need to change our plans unless they've been affected by the new rules we've put in place.

       "So, if you're asked to self-isolate for example, because you've come into contact with someone with a suspected case of this new variant, then of course your plans are going to be affected...

       "In the winter, as each day gets darker and colder, the virus likes that, the flu virus likes that, so just have a bit of common sense and follow the current guidance.

       "And the vast, vast majority of people do just that, they know about the risks and threats that are out there and they behave responsibly."

       NHS trusts are asking staff "not to mix in big groups" in the run-up to Christmas., the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers has revealed.

       Saffron Cordery told Sky News that unlike last year when "it was absolutely clear that nobody was going to a Christmas party last year" people were making "their own decisions".

       But she added: "We know that many NHS trusts, for example, are asking their staff not to mix in big groups in the run-up to Christmas because of the potential threat to their health and what they will be available to do.

       "So, they are they are setting one example there."

       She added: "It's a really challenging and difficult one."

       Sajid Javid has said "all rules will have been followed at all times", following reports that the Prime Minister and Downing Street aides attended parties in Number 10 last Christmas, while imposing draconian restrictions.

       According to the Daily Mirror, Boris Johnson gave a speech "at a packed leaving do"in the midst of the second lockdown. A second event - a Christmas party - was held while London was stuck in tier three restrictions.

       The Health Secretary - who was a backbench MP at the time - told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Whatever happened in No 10 throughout the pandemic, I am certain the rules would have been followed.

       "I can't tell you what is going on in a daily basis in any building... but I am certain all the rules will have been followed at all times."

       Sajid Javid has defended the Government's ruling on face coverings, which have become mandatory for places like public transport and shopping but not for plays and pantomimes.

       The Health Secretary said there was a "whole spectrum of response", adding: "The job of Government is to listen to expert advice and make a balanced and proportionate judgment, that is what we have done - we have acted swiftly."

       Sajid Javid has said that people should follow Government advice rather than Dr Jenny Harries' warning not to socialise unnecessarily.

       The Health Secretary told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "People should continue to follow the guidance set out in the autumn and winter plan i presented a month or so ago. That guidance remains valid even in light of this new variant... I don't think people need to change those plans."

       He added: "Dr Jenny Harries.... she is an absolutely amazing in the work she does [but] she will be the first person to agree that ministers get advice from different experts and then we make a decision taking into account all of the advice."

       Challenged over what the right thing to do is, he added: "The right thing to do is follow the existing guidance, but taking into account the changes that have been announced in the last few days."

       GPs' workload will be lifted in order to prioritise the booster programme, Sajid Javid has confirmed.

       Asked if he would lighten the load for doctors who have complained about excess work, the Health Secretary told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Yes - this is our new national mission in terms of the public health of this country there is nothing more important.

       "We are working at pace with GP representatives in the last two days, in how we can free up some of their time. I won't set that out now myself, it will be set out by NHS directly."

       Noting the target that everyone should have received an offer of a third Covid vaccine by the end of January, Mr Javid added: "This is a huge thing we are trying to achieve - it is essential that we do this."

       People "should wait to be called" for their Covid booster jabs, Sajid Javid has confirmed.

       The Health Secretary, responding to reports of people struggling to get their third vaccine and run-ins with those giving the jab, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It is a huge challenge.... we are asking a lot more of them now because of this new variant. We need to step up hugely our plans."

       If people have a walk-in centre nearby, they should "take up that offer as well", he added.

       "But for the vast majority of people, they will act when they are invited by the NHS by email, text message or otherwise," Mr Javid said.

       The expansion of the booster programme means that all adults from 18 and above can get their jab, but the NHS will "obviously prioritise the most vulnerable - that is why we will approach this in age groups."

       Sajid Javid has revealed he will be having a small Christmas celebration in his constituency this year, as questions grow over the extent to which people will be free to mingle during the festive season.

       The Health Secretary told Sky News he would be "spending it with family in Bromsgrove - just my family".

       This morning a member of the JCVI said she was keeping her plans "open" (see 8:01am).

       Last year, of course, the country was locked down just days before Christmas Day.

       The Government "absolutely" needs more volunteers to join the so-called jabs army to deliver one million more jabs a week to meet the Government's target for Covid boosters, Sajid Javid has said.

       The Health Secretary said the programme was being expanded but he acknowledged more volunteers were needed.

       "In the last week we had about 2.4 million jabs across the UK. We are going to need to do around a million more ... but I think it can be done," he told BBC Breakfast.

       "Existing national vaccination centres and the hospital hubs, many of them will open for longer. Some of the people there are already committed to doing extra hours or they know where they can find the volunteers they want.

       "We are also going to have more pharmacies than ever before - 1,500 pharmacies across the country - and more GPs will be involved as well. In terms of volunteers, we do absolutely need more volunteers."

       Craig Mackinlay has said he is "relaxed" about new rules mandating mask-wearing, despite having voted against the regulations yesterday.

       The Conservative MP for South Thanet told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he was concerned about "some of the nonsense... creeping in", highlighting discrepancies around where and when masks needed to be worn.

       This suggested the legislation "hadn't been thought through very well", he added.

       But the biggest concern was around enforced isolation for those who come into contact with a "suspected" case of omicron, suggesting it could lead "us down the road of a pingdemic".

       He said: "We had no guidance from the minister or anything else that came out through the day as to what 'suspected to have' really means - will it be really confirmed, or will it be a bit of a blunt instrument?"

       Asked if he thought Downing Street was overreacting, he said: "They are damned if they do and damned if they don't... the Government is in a difficult situation."

       A member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has said she is keeping her Christmas plans "open", amid concerns that the new omicron variant could derail the festive period.

       Dr Maggie Wearmouth, a GP and member of the JCVI, said medics were "keeping our fingers crossed" that boosting people's immunity through more jabs would deal with the Omicron variant, adding that vaccines work against the dominant Delta strain.

       She told LBC radio: "We don't have the answer for absolutely everything and we would be accused of complacency if we didn't warn people and we didn't do this while we were waiting the few weeks while we had the scientific data."

       Asked about her own Christmas plans, she said: "I'm keeping them open, I have to say."

       The Government is "falling well short" of the booster jab numbers needed to keep people safe and Christmas on track, Labour's new shadow health secretary has said.

       Wes Streeting, who was promoted in this week's reshuffle, told LBC: "We said to the Government they need to get around half a million booster jobs delivered a day - they have been falling well short of that.

       "In terms of this new push, we will get behind it, we will encourage people to volunteer, we will encourage people to take booster jabs."

       Asked about whether people should change Christmas plans, Mr Streeting added: "I don't want people to change their plans. That's the brunt of it. I don't want to be the Grinch that stole Christmas.

       "I don't want ministers turning up in the House of Commons in a couple of weeks time telling people to change their plans at the 11th hour because they didn't do everything that they possibly could, so that's got to be the focus now.

       "I hope people have a very Merry Christmas and the Government's got to do everything it can to make sure that happens."

       Sajid Javid has once again played down comments made by Dr Jenny Harries, who yesterday suggested that people should avoid unnecessary socialising in light of the omicron variant.

       The Health Secretary told Times Radio people should continue with the plans they had prior to the emergence of the Covid strain, but urged people to get a booster jab.

       He added that he would take a test if he was going to a party with "three or four hundred people".

       People do not need to change their plans for Christmas due to concerns about the omicron variant, Sajid Javid has said.

       The Health Secretary told Sky News: "I think people should continue to behave in the way they were planning to behave over Christmas. I don't think there is any need to change those plans."

       Asked if people should take a Covid test before attending Christmas parties, Mr Javid said: "I would."

       New Covid rules on self-isolation were last night enshrined in law until March, as Tory MPs warned Boris Johnson that restricting freedoms was a path “towards hell”.

       The regulations forcing people to isolate for 10 days if they come into contact with someone who has the omicron variant or risk a fine of up to ￡10,000 - even if they are fully vaccinated - will not expire until March 24.

       The measure prompted a major revolt of 33 Tory MPs, including former Conservative cabinet ministers Greg Clark, Jeremy Wright and Esther McVey, as well as Mark Harper, the former chief whip.

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