By Q Radio News
Around a third of the Prime Minister's top team are apparently pushing back against a possible lockdown before Christmas - including Boris Johnson himself.
Some experts want to see new measures brought in, fearing the highly-transmissible Omicron variant could cripple the NHS otherwise.
In Northern Ireland, the new variant is thought to now be a dominant strain.
LISTEN: Omicron now thought to be the dominant strain of Covid 19 in NI. #Omicron https://t.co/V9Pfr5NOdG
— Q Radio News (@qnewsdesk) December 20, 2021
One of the Government's scientific advisors David Spiegelhalter says he is not convinced by the argument that the latest version leads to a more-mild illness:
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