England sees no need for further restrictions - for now

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson sees no need for further restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus' omicron variant his spokesman said on ahead of a press conference on Tuesday.

Amid indications that omicron may produce “milder” illness than earlier variants and the success of a nationwide vaccine booster program, the government believes the existing level of controls is still appropriate, Johnson spokesman Max Blain told reporters in London. The government continues to monitor the data and is prepared to respond if the situation changes, he said.

“At the moment, we don’t see any data to suggest that further restrictions would be the right approach, given we know it is important to strike the right balance between protecting lives and livelihoods,” Blain said.

Opposition politicians and some public health officials have pressed the government to step up restrictions on business and personal interactions as the highly transmissible omicron variant pushed infection levels to records during the Christmas holidays. Johnson has resisted these calls after almost 100 of his party’s lawmakers opposed controls imposed last month.

The government is encouraged by statistics showing that the recent jump in coronavirus-related hospital admissions hasn’t led to a similar increase in the number of patients needed mechanical ventilation, Blain said.

“We know that admissions and occupancy are increasing significantly at the moment – we’re not seeing that same jump in beds requiring ventilation, which is pleasing, and almost certainly a function of both the nature of omicron and our successful booster program,’’ he said.

While number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in England has more than doubled over the past two weeks, the number of patients in...