There will be no further Covid restrictions in England before the new year, Sajid Javid has said.
But the health secretary said people should “remain cautious” and celebrate outside on New Year’s Eve if possible.
“When we get into the new year, of course we will see then whether we do need to take any further measures, but nothing more until then at least,” he said.
Meanwhile, England reported a record number of cases on Christmas Day.
The figures showed there were 113,628 new infections reported in England on 25 December, 103,558 on 26 December and 98,515 on 27 December.
“When we get into the new year, of course we will see then whether we do need to take any further measures, but nothing more until then at least.”
Only partial Covid data has been published over the Christmas period.
Meanwhile, the Scottish government said provisional data suggested Christmas weekend had seen the highest daily cases recorded in Scotland since the start of the pandemic.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the expected wave of cases fuelled by Omicron was “materialising”.
Scotland and Northern Ireland have both tightened rules for a second day, with hospitality venues returning to table service only and social distancing returning in several settings.
Early findings last week suggested people infected with the fast-spreading Omicron variant were less likely to be admitted to hospital – although a range of factors is likely to be examined when looking at the case for restrictions.
Mr Javid said 90% of cases across England were now the Omicron variant.