Queen Elizabeth is canceling a pre-Christmas party amid soaring COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom.
A Buckingham Palace source told Reuters it was a “precautionary” decision so as not to put anyone’s holiday plans at risk from the gathering.
“While there is regret that it is cancelled, there is a belief it is the right thing to do for all,” the source said.
The decision to cancel the party comes as the U.K. saw a record number of COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, recording more than 78,000 cases. And it comes amid a political scandal for Prime Minister Boris Johnson over a holiday party involving his colleagues held last year.
The record number of cases in the U.K. has heightened concerns about the new omicron variant as the country is reimplementing some coronavirus measures, including wearing masks in stores and on public transportation.
The U.K. is also ramping up its COVID-19 booster campaign to try to fight against the variant that was discovered in South Africa last month.
“It’s probably the most significant threat we’ve had since the start of the pandemic and I’m sure for example the numbers that we see on data over the next few days will be quite staggering compared to the rate of growth that we’ve seen in cases for previous variants,” said U.K. Health Security Agency chief Jenny Harries.
”The real potential risk here –—and I would underline that because we are still learning a lot about the variant — is in relation to its severity, clinical severity, and therefore whether those cases turn into severe disease, hospitalizations and deaths. We’re still at too early stage for that. In fact, the world probably is still at too early stage to be clear,” Harries added.