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Britain's government has defended the pace and scale of its response to the new Omicron strain of Covid-19 against criticism that it was again falling behind the curve, AFP reports.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said mandatory mask-wearing will return to shops and public transport in England on Tuesday, and told families to plan for Christmas “as normal”, despite new rules to combat the Omicron variant.
Also from Tuesday, all passengers arriving in Britain are being instructed to take a PCR test for Covid-19, and self-isolate until they register negative.
