Sunday shows round-up: Brits will take mask-wearing 'more seriously'

Sajid Javid: we’re ‘nowhere near’ renewed social distancing

Health Secretary Sajid Javid found himself back in the hot seat this morning after a week which saw the discovery of the new ‘Omicron variant’ of the virus in South Africa. Yesterday, Boris Johnson confirmed that there were at least two cases of this variant already in the UK, despite suspending flights from the country and ordering new quarantine measures to be put in place. Trevor Phillips spoke to Javid about whether the latest strain could mean a return to many of the measures that have previously been in place, such as social distancing. However, Javid insisted that, beyond the new mask mandate, the government would not be taking any knee-jerk reactions as a response:

Sajid Javid says the government is taking a "proportionate and balanced" approach to the new Omicron variant, and that other measures, such as working from home mandates, "carry a very heavy price" and "we're nowhere near" them being introduced

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