Boris Johnson has given the country the green light to 'go ahead with Christmas plans', but has not ruled out tougher Coronavirus restrictions in the coming days.

Speaking to the nation the PM said the government couldn't rule out measures after Christmas but said the government didn't think "today" there was enough evidence to justify tougher measures before December 25.

“There is no doubt that Omicron continues to surge with a speed unlike anything we’ve seen before," he said. “The situation remains extremely difficult but I also recognise that people have been waiting to hear whether their Christmas plans are going to be affected.

“So what I can say tonight is that naturally we can’t rule out any further measures after Christmas – and we’re going to keep a constant eye on the data, and we’ll do whatever it takes to protect public health.

“But in view of the continuing uncertainty about several things – the severity of Omicron, uncertainty about the hospitalisation rate or the impact of the vaccine rollout or the boosters, we don’t think today that there is enough evidence to justify any tougher measures before Christmas.

“We continue to monitor Omicron very closely and if the situation deteriorates we will be ready to take action if needed."

He urged people to follow scientific advice on wearing masks and to get a vaccine jab or booster if they had not done so already.

Earlier today, Rishi Sunak announced a £1 billion support package to businesses hit by Covid restrictions following reports of huge losses due to cancellations as people avoid caching Covid before Christmas.

It includes one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises for businesses in the affected sectors in England, which the Treasury expects will be administered by local authorities and to be available in the coming weeks.

West End shows have had to cancel and the pantomime season has been hit hard by the spread.

In Chatham, the audience had already taken their seats at the Central Theatre when the pantomime was cancelled last minute.

It came as several members of the cast of Beauty and the Beast tested positive. Medway council has today confirmed the show will go on tomorrow (December 22).

A similar situation happened in Maidstone's Hazlitt Theatre, where the Jack And The Beanstalk pantomime was cancelled just hours before due to "Covid developments".

Elsewhere, the booster roll out has been stepped up a gear with the army being drafted in to testing sites in Maidstone and Dartford.

The move is part of a major project to get as many people vaccinated by the New Year as possible.

New sites are also being set up in Walderslade, Tunbridge Wells and the Isle of Sheppey.

The roll out has been the main focus on the government rather than introducing stringent locdown measures.

Earlier this month people were told to work from home, start wearing masks in some venues and limits on capacity for big events.

Boris Johnson faced a rebellion from MPs on the decision including from South Thanet Mp Craig Mackinlay.

Today, he has said the government was not being transparent about Covid hospital admissions.

“I feel that even though we haven't got a Draconian lockdown, we're almost getting it through fear and stealth.”

The MP, who is a member of the coronavirus recovery group of backbench MPs has also questioned modelling done by the government about the spread of the virus, saying that it too is misleading.

He said: “Hospital admissions are still not showing an uptick. We come back to that question - have you gone in to hospital because of Covid or just with it? And that's a major difference.

"If you go into hospital because of your shortness of breathing and all of those bad signs because of COVID, that's a very different hospitalisation. If you go in with a broken leg, and you've got no other effects from COVID, that's wholly different place. We don't seem to be getting the data as to why people are hospitalised.”

He also questioned why the government was relying on modelling which was based on an extreme case.

Mr Mackinlay said: “Modellers will model something based on almost the outcome they want. Rather than a range of models, they seem to have modelled for the extreme. And in a way it's like the boy cried wolf, where we're increasingly not believing.”