New Years in Jeopardy in UK as ‘Circuit Breaker’ Lockdown Looms

New Year’s Eve is in jeopardy across the UK, as the government reportedly considers forcing England into a two-week ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown.

New Year’s Eve celebrations are in jeopardy in the United Kingdom, with the government reportedly looking at imposing a two-week lockdown in England shortly after Christmas.

The news comes amid promises from Prime Minister Boris Johnson there would be no lockdown for Christmas in the country.

According to a report by The Sun, England could be put under lockdown as early as the 27th, with the Prime Minister set to make an announcement within the next 48 hours regarding new measures.

Sources meanwhile told the Financial Times that almost all indoor mixing would likely be banned under the new measures, and restaurants and bars would be limited to outdoor dining only.

The sources also reported however that Johnson wants to first assess the effects of restrictions already in place before imposing more measures.

This is echoed by a Sky News report, the broadcaster being told by a source that not enough was known yet about how effective boosters have been in limiting the spread of the omicron variant.

Sky News also reports that the source played down the possibility of a circuit-breaker.

“In any case, if things do become that bad, a circuit breaker wouldn’t be the kind of thing we look at,” the source is alleged to have said.

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As the English public face having their New Year’s celebrations cancelled, other parts of the UK have already announced restrictions for after Christmas.

Scotland will implement a slew of new lockdown measures which will come into force on December 26th. These include substantial curbs on the number of people allowed to attend events.

As a result, traditional New Years events in Edinburgh have been cancelled, making it the second year in a row that festivities have not gone ahead.

Wales meanwhile will completely ban spectators from sports, as well as close all nightclubs from the 26th.

Social distancing rules within shops and restaurants will also be reintroduced, along with rules mandating table service only for hospitality.

Northern Ireland meanwhile has not yet announced further restrictions, but ministers have already confirmed that “additional asks” will be made of the public.

Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Prison Service has already announced that all visits will be temporarily suspended from the 27th as a “cautionary” step, “pending review”.