British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday a new Covid-19 lockdown is not on the cards, as advisers warned that acting early with lighter measures to cut rising case numbers would reduce the need for tougher restrictions later.

Johnson’s government has said there is no need yet to introduce a “Plan B”. Asked on Friday about the possibility of another lockdown over winter, the prime minister said: “I’ve got to tell you at the moment that we see absolutely nothing to indicate that, that is on the cards at all.”

While Johnson has scrapped the legal requirement to wear masks, he said they should still be worn in confined spaces. Covid-19 infections in Britain are up 17.9% over the last seven days, with 52,009 reported on Thursday, and the reproduction “R” number is estimated between 1.0 and 1.2. Any figure above one suggests an exponential growth in cases.

“In the event of increasing case rates, earlier intervention would reduce the need for more stringent, disruptive, and longer-lasting measures,” the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said in minutes from a October 14 meeting, published on Friday.

“SAGE advises that policy work on the potential reintroduction of measures should be undertaken now so that it can be ready for rapid deployment if required.”

SAGE added that among Plan B measures, reintroduction of work-from-home guidance would have the biggest impact to cut transmission, and warned that “presenteeism” might become an increasing reason for contagion in the workplace.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday found that Covid-19 prevalence had risen again. The ONS said Covid prevalence was at its highest level since January, when England had just entered a third national lockdown, although deaths are much lower.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it was investigating a Delta subvariant of the coronavirus called AY.4.2 as it was possibly more transmissible than Delta, though there was no evidence that it caused more severe disease or rendered vaccines ineffective.

Meanwhile, Russia reported a record number of new cases and deaths on Saturday. The national coronavirus headquarters said there were 37,678 new cases and 1,075 deaths in the last day, the most in both categories since the pandemic began.

Austria could lock down only for unvaccinated

Austria has laid out a framework for potential new lockdown measures to apply only to unvaccinated people, as inoculations lag and cases rise sharply.

“I will do everything I can to ensure that the health system in this country does not reach its limit and is not overloaded because we have too many procrastinators,” Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said in a statement Saturday.

If the number of Covid patients in intensive care units hits 500, or 25% of the country’s capacity, unvaccinated people would be barred from hotels and restaurants. If ICU capacity reaches one-third, or 600 units, a lockdown would go into effect for the unvaccinated, who would only be allowed to leave their homes for certain reasons.

Singapore removes India from restriction list

Singapore on Saturday announced the removal of India and five other South Asian countries from its travel restriction list as the island-state continues to adjust border measures in response to the global Covid-19 situation.

All travellers with a 14-day travel history to Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be allowed to enter or transit through Singapore from Wednesday, the health ministry said.

However, travellers from these countries will be subjected to the tightest of border measures, which involve a 10-day, stay-home notice period at a dedicated facility, it said.