According to the Government, New Years Eve restrictions are increasingly unlikely.

This update comes after an official report confirmed that the omicron variant of Coronavirus is likely a significantly milder variant of the disease.

A new analysis by the UK Health Security Agency found that the risk of and likelihood of emergency was 31 to 45 percent lower when a person contracts omicron rather than delta, while the risk of hospitalisation was 50 to 70 percent lower.

On Thursday there were 119,789 confirmed Covid infections which is the highest recorded number of the pandemic so far.

A source close to Downing Street has said that a package of restrictions during the Christmas period "doesn't look as likely as it was in the wake of the series of studies on omicron that have shown the variant as less harmful.

However, other figures in Government have implied that officials are still weighing up the possible options.

"We're not going to make a decision about after Christmas until after Christmas," the source said. "We're not at that stage yet of being in a place to make a decision about whether any further restrictions are necessary."