Mask wearing, social distancing and working from home could be introduced by ministers to 'ease pressures on the NHS', as some experts call for Britons to start adopting Covid-era measures.
The EU has set out its commitment to the continued use of lockdowns, mask mandates, vaccine passports and other restrictions this winter, and also to the creation of a "legally binding" global pandemic treaty.
Grant Shapps has claimed he had to do his own research and bring his spreadsheets to Cabinet meetings to counter the skewed information being supplied by SAGE and block plans for a Covid lockdown last Christmas.
A French region bans gatherings "due to the heatwave"; Germany mulls an annual winter mask mandate; and China uses its Covid app to target protestors. Some of the worst fears of sceptics are coming true.
South Africa has ramped up its restrictions again in response to the recent reported rise in infections associated with new subvariants Omicron BA.4 and BA.5. But is the 'wave' already running out of steam?
The UK and other countries should impose moderate lockdowns this winter to stop the virus "just infecting everybody", WHO Special Envoy on COVID-19 Response Dr David Nabarro has said.
Dominic Raab has said that there are no "hard, fast guarantees" that additional Covid restrictions won't be introduced before Christmas Day.
Will immunity from prior Covid infections and vaccines cancel the winter flu season this year, as some are optimistically predicting? Or is this a fool's hope that risks shunting us into a new lockdown?
Professor Neil Ferguson has said that Britain is unlikely to need a winter lockdown because high cases numbers earlier in the year mean antibody levels are higher in the U.K. than Holland or Germany.
Sajid Javid has urged those eligible for the booster jab to come forward and do their part to avoid a winter lockdown.
