held during december 2020's lockdown, this time at the department of transport on 16 december. the department of transport apologises for holding the party. chancellor rishi sunak announces plans to cut short a trip to the united states in order to have discussions with business leaders about the problems facing businesses because of covid. the chancellor had been accused of being "missing in action" over the trip. the scottish government issues new guidelines for hospitality and retail businesses in scotland advising the return of social distancing and one-way systems for shops and supermarkets; the guidelines are effective from 12.01am the following day. 17 december a further 93,045 covid cases are reported, the third day on which the highest number of the pandemic so far has been reported. a total of 861,306 were given on the previous day, figures show. research from imperial college london indicates a booster vaccine is 85% effective against the omicron variant. figures show more than 50% of eligible adults have received a booster. minutes of a meeting held by the scientific advisory group for emergencies (sage) the previous day contain the prediction that there will be 3,000 hospitalisations a day without further restrictions in england. a yougov survey carried out for the times indicates a majority of people have no plans to change their plans in the run up to christmas despite the spread of the omicron variant. the survey finds 10 per cent of those questioned had changed plans to go to a pub or restaurant, while 16 per cent said they had avoided a christmas party, and 90 per cent said they were going to work as normal. the premier league and uk government urge footballers to get the vaccine after half the upcoming weekend's fixtures are postponed due to covid outbreaks at clubs. simon case recuses himself from his role of leading an inquiry into alleged government staff parties during lockdown, after it is reported that a similar event was also held in his own office. the omicron variant is believed to have replaced the delta variant as the most dominant variant in scotland. france imposes a ban on travellers from the uk from 11pm gmt, apart from in exceptional circumstances. 18 december a further 90,418 covid cases are confirmed, with 10,000 of them being omicron variant cases. the increase in omicron cases prompts mayor of london sadiq khan to declare an emergency. the scientific advisory group for emergencies (sage) says that more stringent measures need to be brought in for england to prevent hospitalisations reaching 3,000 per day. their recommendation follows reports in the times that the uk government is planning a two week "firebreaker" lockdown after christmas that would see mixing indoors banned and pubs and restaurants restricted to outdoor service. lord david frost resigns from the johnson ministry, citing the government's direction, as well as its continued use of covid measures. in a letter to the prime minister, frost says measures to reopen the economy in july "did not prove to be irreversible...i hope we can get back on track soon and not be tempted by the kind of coercive measures we have seen elsewhere". germany announces it is imposing tighter restrictions on travellers from the uk from 11pm gmt the following day. 19 december a further 82,886 covid cases are recorded, 12,133 of which are identified as omicron variant cases. speaking to the bbc's the andrew marr show, health secretary sajid javid refuses to rule out further restrictions to tackle the omicron variant. the guardian publishes a photograph showing prime minister boris johnson, his then partner carrie symonds and 17 members of staff attending a gathering at which cheese and wine were present in the garden of 10 downing street in may 2020, at a time when the number of people who were allowed to meet up outside was limited. downing street has previously described the gathering as a "work meeting". piers corbyn is arrested by the met police after a video emerges of him urging people to "hammer to death those scum, those scum who have decided to go ahead with introducing new fascism", as well as suggesting that the offices of mps who had voted for covid-19 restrictions should be burned down. 20 december following a cabinet meeting, prime minister boris johnson rules out any immediate new restrictions, but says the government "won't hesitate" to introduce further restrictions for england, adding that the data is being reviewed "hour by hour" and there are "some things that we need to be clearer about before we decide to go further". however, media reports circulate of plans for a four-week ban on indoor socialising from 27 december. for the second year in a row the queen cancels the traditional royal family christmas at sandringham in favour of festive celebrations at windsor castle. new year's eve celebrations in trafalgar square are cancelled by london mayor sadiq khan. bbc news reports on how fraudsters are offering unvaccinated people fake covid passes. the english premier league confirms that its programme of fixtures for the christmas period will go ahead as planned. itv confirms that its breakfast television programme good morning britain will go into hiatus over the christmas period as a result of rapid increase in covid-19 cases. a special edition of the programme is planned for christmas day, but editions scheduled for 29, 30 and 31 december will not go ahead. the department for education asked for recently retired teachers and for trained teachers who had moved to other professions to return to teaching from january in anticipation of staff sickness due to omicron variant cases. 21 december prime minister boris johnson confirms there will be no new covid restrictions for england before christmas, but does not rule them out for afterwards. chancellor rishi sunak announces £1bn of funding to help leisure and hospitality sector businesses affected by covid. new measures are announced for scotland effective from boxing day (26 december) that limit the number of spectators at outdoor sporting events to 500, and indoor events such as concerts to 200 if seated and 100 if standing. pubs and restaurants must also offer table service only. edinburgh's hogmanay street party is also cancelled. the welsh government announces the levy of fines on employees and employers if people are not working from home without a good reason, effective from monday 27 december. workers will receive a £60 fixed penalty fine while employers will receive a £1,000 fine for each breach of the rules. train operators have reported the cancellation of hundreds of services in the run up to christmas as staff become ill with covid and are required to self-isolate. 22 december the self-isolation requirement for contacts of anyone testing positive for covid in england is shortened from ten to seven days. a further 106,122 new covid-19 cases are confirmed, the largest daily number so far. a study of omicron variant cases in scotland and published in the uk and south africa indicates the variant could be milder than previous covid variants, with a reduction in hospitalisations of anything from 30% to 70%, but there is still concern that cases could still overwhelm hospitals. government scientists have recommended that some primary school age children classed as clinically vulnerable32 should be offered a low-dose covid vaccine. there is also a recommendation that some older children could receive a boost doe in response to the omicron variant. a decision by health officials is yet to be made. the welsh government announces the reintroduction of the rule of six and outdoor social distancing from boxing day, with groups of six allowed to meet in pubs and restaurants, while hospitality will once again be limited to table service. outdoor events will be limited to 50 people, while indoor events will be limited to 30, although life events such as weddings and funerals will be unaffected. restrictions are also announced for northern ireland from boxing day, with nightclubs required to close and indoor standing events prohibited. dancing at venues will also be prohibited, but this rule will not apply at weddings. 23 december the uk records a further 119,789 covid cases, the largest daily number to date. a major analysis of the omicron variant carried out by the uk health security agency indicates people catching it are 50–70% less likely to require hospital treatment. the covid symptom study warns that as many as half of those experiencing cold-like symptoms could actually have covid, and urges people in such a situation to take a covid test. clarence house confirms that the queen will spend christmas day with the duke and duchess of cornwall. scotland's deputy first minister john swinney announces that nightclubs will close for three weeks from 27 december. figures released by the uk health security bench indicate as many as 19,000 nhs staff were absent fro work in england on 19 december due to covid related reasons. 24 december a further 122,186 covid cases are reported, the third day the figure has been over 100,000. data from the office for national statistics indicates that1.7 million people in england had covid during the preceding week, the highest figure since autumn 2020. dr jenny harries, the chief executive of the uk health security agency describes data indicating the omicron variant is less serious than the delta variant as a “glimmer of hope”. the uk government announces the temporary relaxation of immigration rules for overseas care workers in order to make it easier t recruit and keep care staff. the number of christmas eve shoppers on the high streets of city centres is down significantly on the same day the reviews week, early data shows. in london, where omicron is widespread, the number of town centre shoppers is believed to be down by as much as 30.3%. the duke and duchess of cambridge organise a special carol concert for people who helped their communities during the pandemic at which the duchess makes a surprise appearance playing the piano. 25 december vaccination centres in england are remaining open over the festive period in order to facilitate the ongoing vaccination programme. the programme is suspended over the holidays in wales though. test centres remain open in northern ireland. in an interview with the bbc, cardinal vincent nichols, the archbishop of westminster and leader of the roman catholic church in england and wales, urges the uk government not to close churches again in the event that restrictions are tightened after christmas. the most frequent symptoms of covid caused by omicron are, "a running nose, headaches, fatigue, sneezing and sore throats." omicron affects the upper respiratory tract more than previous variants making it more transmissible and also causing cold-like symptoms. experts advise the government to update advice on symptoms urgently. newly published documents show that the golf course owned by former president of the united states donald trump and located in scotland claimed over £3,000,000 furlough money from the uk government. 26 december tighter covid restrictions come into force in scotland, wales and northern ireland, limiting the hospitality sector and reintroducing social distancing, as well as placing limits on the numbers at social gatherings. the latest health statistics show that 51 million first doses of a covid vaccine have been administered, along with 47 million second doses. 27 december both england and scotland continue to report high numbers of covid cases, with data for the christmas holiday released. england reported 113,628 new cases on 25 december, 103,558 on 26 december and 98,515 on 27 december, while scotland reported 8,252 cases on 25 december, 11,030 for 26 december and 10,562 on 27 december. health secretary sajid javid confirms there will be no new restrictions for england before the new year, but urges people to celebrate the occasion cautiously and outside if possible. new data from analysts springboard shows a 32% decline in post-christmas high street sales when compared to 27 december 2019. 28 december the uk government's decision to avoid new covid restrictions in england before the new year is disputed by a number of scientists, who describe it as "the greatest divergence between scientific advice and legislation" since the pandemic started. care minister gillian keegan urges people to enjoy themselves at new year but to be cautious by taking a lateral flow test before they attend any events. high levels of demand