BORIS Johnson has delayed a decision expected to happen on Monday about more Covid restrictions before Christmas in England.

A UK Cabinet meeting was held this afternoon amid ongoing concern about the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the virus.

Downing Street denied it was an emergency meeting, saying ministers were being updated on a fast-changing situation.

It comes after the UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) warned daily hospital admissions could reach 3000 without further restrictions.

The delay in the final decision means that the UK Government imposing more measures to prevent Covid spreading is unlikely to happen this week due to the turnaround in recalling Parliament during a recess.

READ MORE: Rishi Sunak 'resisting' calls for Covid restrictions amid Omicron wave

It takes 48 hours to fully recall Parliament, vote on changes and implement them and it is understood that the decision to delay measures has been taken due to the fact that by that time, millions of people will have already travelled for Christmas.

The Times reported that the Prime Minister and his Cabinet do not believe that the latest data is sufficient to justify a circuit breaker lockdown right now.

A government source told the newspaper: “The data isn’t there yet to justify further restrictions. There’s still so much that we don’t know about the severity of the variant and the extent to which vaccination and boosters sever the link between cases and hospitalisations.”

However, it is understood that ministers are still considering plans for a "Step 2" circuit breaker after Christmas, possibly from December 28, which would ban people from different households mixing indoors and put restrictions on hospitality.

It would also involve people being told to work from home if they can and remote learning for higher education. Hairdressers and beauty salons would remain open.

Downing Street did not deny reports that a number of ministers – including Chancellor Rishi Sunak – have pushed back against calls for action without more evidence of the impact the virus would have.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said it was part of the job of ministers to scrutinise any advice they were given.

“We need to strike the right balance between protecting lives and livelihoods. That is what we are focused on,” the spokesman said.

“This is a fast-moving situation. There are significant gaps in the data we have relating to this variant.

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“We are working to get more clarity on what impact it has on things like severe illness, hospitalisations and deaths.

“It is one of the roles of ministers to scrutinise any advice and evidence provided, and consider it in the round. That is the function of Cabinet.”

Recalling Parliament during the Christmas recess - that runs until January 5 - could prove politically problematic for Johnson with many in his own party objecting to further restrictions.

The Prime Minister suffered the biggest backbench rebellion of his premiership with almost 100 Tory MPs voting against rules requiring Covid vaccine certificates for entry into nightclubs and other large venues.

Professor Ravi Gupta, a member of the Government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said that with 12,000 confirmed cases of Omicron variant in the UK, it could potentially overwhelm the NHS.

“So that’s a really critical situation that we’re facing,” he told Sky.

“Even if the vaccines protect us to a significant degree, then the increased transmissibility and penetration of the virus into communities that we’re seeing already is putting a large amount of pressure [on the NHS] because a very small fraction of a very large number still translates to significant numbers being hospitalised.”