UPDATE: Ex-pats and travellers face tests and isolation from Tuesday as Omicron fears hit home

Variant shock as Boris steers England towards potential new nightmare at Christmas

Initial reports indicating that Covid restrictions in England including travel bans, PCR testing will be needed to fight the new Omicron variant have been confirmed.

Boris Johnson said that ALL arrivals in the UK must self-isolate until they get a negative test – and all contacts of people infected with the mutation must stay at home for 10 days.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty and Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, the Prime Minister also said that facemasks on public transport and shops will be compulsory.

But there will be no changes to the rules for the hospitality sector. Mr Johnson said details of the ‘tightening up’ of rules will be made clear by Health Secretary Sajid Javid ‘in the next day or so’.

Downing Street said, however, that they will become mandatory ‘from next week’ and will be reviewed in three weeks.

The Prime Minister said : “We’re not going to stop people travelling, I want to stress that, we’re not going to stop people travelling, but we will require anyone who enters the UK to take a PCR test by the end of the second day after their arrival and to self-isolate until they have a negative result

“Second, we need to slow down the spread of this variant here in the UK, because measures at the border can only ever minimise and delay the arrival of a new variant rather than stop it all together

“We will require all contacts of those who test positive with a suspected case of Omicron to self-isolate for 10 days regardless of your vaccination status.

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