Health Secretary Attempts to Outline What Could Trigger ‘Plan B’ This Winter

Just as plans for vaccine passports at ‘large venues’ left us wondering where exactly the measures would be enforced, we have been left in the dark about what will push the Government to enact ‘Plan B’ (including mask mandates and vaccine passes) or ‘Plan C’ (another full lockdown) this winter. Health Secretary Sajid Javid attempted to clarify the issue this morning but was coy about the specifics. Sky News has the story.

The Health Secretary has said A&E pressures and increasing Covid hospital admissions could trigger the Government’s Plan B for the winter – as experts warned hospital admissions could reach 7,000 a day.

Sajid Javid added that a new variant of concern would not necessarily be a trigger as he refused to rule out a lockdown.

Plan B, which includes mandatory face masks, a work from home order and vaccine passports, was revealed by the Government on Tuesday as part of the autumn and winter plan for dealing with the Covid pandemic.

The Health Secretary told Sky News: “What happens in the NHS is going to be hugely important to me, to the whole country, making sure that we don’t get to a position again where the NHS becomes unsustainable.

“I think we’re going to have to look at a number of measures, so of course that would be the level of hospitalisation, it will be the pressures on A&E, the pressures on the workforce, so we’d have to take all of these together.”

However, he refused to put a number on how many cases or admissions would trigger plan B.

Worth reading in full.