Britons were out in their thousands doing Christmas shopping today, with many seen wearing face coverings ahead of the clampdown on masks set to be imposed from Monday.
Shoppers swarmed the streets of Leeds, Bristol and Newcastle this afternoon with some cautious to avoid catching Covid amid concerns surrounding the rampant spread of the super mutant Omicron variant.
Boris Johnson on Wednesday announced England would be moving to his Covid Plan B — including compulsory mask-wearing in all indoor public spaces other than bars and restaurants — from next week in order to prevent the increase in cases fuelled by the new strain becoming overwhelming for the NHS.
ALMOST half of shoppers want to buy British brands that return manufacturing to the UK
— Time4Cannock? (@Time4Cannock) December 7, 2021
??#BuyBritish #MadeinUK #MadeinBritain??https://t.co/7HqkGyCLcz
Thousands flocked to markets and busy town centres to buy gifts on the penultimate Saturday before Christmas day ahead of the new restrictions.
Pictures show shoppers walking shoulder-to-shoulder down a busy Northumberland Street in Newcastle this afternoon.
From Monday, all adults will be required to wear face masks in indoor public settings unless they are exempt, eating, exercising or singing.
They will also have to show proof of vaccination or a negative test in the last 24 hours to gain entrance to clubs and large-scale events.
The new rules, which were slammed by Tory MPs in Parliament, also guide people to work from home where possible.
Part 2 of our monthly study of the behaviour & attitudes of British fashion shoppers, The Index in partnership with @Klarna, in which we examine how 100 handpicked brands and retailers have fared in the past month, is out now. https://t.co/cRypivtEgv#retailinsight #brandtracker pic.twitter.com/TqaGNC8b2P
— TheIndustry.fashion (@theindustryfash) December 10, 2021
But experts warned England could see more Covid hospitalisations this winter than last year even with the new restrictions in place.
Modelling by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) suggests the strain could cause anywhere from between 25,000 to 75,000 deaths in England over the next five months and more hospitalisations in January than were seen last year.
The researchers — who also sit on the Spi-M SAGE modelling subgroup that advises No10 — said restrictions similar to stage two of the roadmap out of lockdown, which include a ban on indoor socialising at pubs and restaurants, may be needed to stop the NHS becoming overwhelmed.
many if not most travelling today were christmas shoppers to York/Leeds/newcastle and revellers. Very few revellers were masking - apparently a fancy dress elf costume and being an unshaven drunk is viewed as protection enough https://t.co/PBPBSMkdIp
— David Woodford ✨✨✨ (@makapala) December 11, 2021
They suggested the measures should be brought in as Boxing Day to stem the tide of admissions and deaths and added that upping the booster rollout to the Government's 500,000 per day target will do little to reduce the toll.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
