Africa Business Radio

Britain’s government defended the pace and scale of its response to the new Omicron strain of Covid-19 against criticism that it is again falling behind the curve. Health Secretary Sajid Javid says mandatory mask-wearing would return to shops and public transport in England on Tuesday, but told families to plan for Christmas as normal, despite new rules to combat the Omicron variant. The government’s website is instructing all passengers entering the UK to take a PCR test for Covid-19 two days after their arrival, and to self-isolate, until they receive a negative result. Travel from 10 countries in southern Africa is now banned because of Omicron, but Javid conceded that hundreds of passengers had arrived on flights from South Africa on Friday without being tested.