Boris Johnson will lead a news conference today along with England’s chief medical officer, Sir Chris Whitty, and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.

The event at 5pm comes after multiple hospitals declared critical incidents due to staff shortages caused by coronavirus.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) told Health Secretary Sajid Javid the NHS could “ill afford” the current level of absences.

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In a letter to Mr Javid it called for a “more cautious approach” to COVID restrictions in England “without further delay”.

The union also questioned the “confusing and concerning” differences in measures between the different UK nations.

It urged ministers to introduce “a more cautious approach for England without further delay” and said the move was supported by “high levels of staff absence due to COVID-19”, which doubled in the two weeks up to Boxing Day.

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“The health and care system in England, already short tens of thousands of professionals, can ill afford the current losses,” it added.

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson warned it would be “absolute folly” to say the pandemic was over and the public must do everything they can to help relieve the pressure on the NHS by following plan B measures.

But the Prime Minister said Omicron was “plainly milder” than other variants and that the UK was in a better position than most other countries due to the “very, very high level of vaccination”.

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