UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed on Tuesday that no new coronavirus restrictions would be imposed in England before the new year.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland introduced new restrictions on Monday on socialising, mainly limiting the size of gatherings, moves that the restaurant, pub and nightclub industries have described as economically devastating.
But Javid said such measures would not be brought forward in England, adding that the government was looking closely at data on the Omicron variant and would keep its decision not to introduce further measures under review.
The Omicron variant has been dominant for days in Britain, but government requirements have been largely voluntary and milder than those on the continent.
The Conservative government had said it could impose new restrictions after Christmas.
But no further measures would be introduced until at least the new year, Javid said.
"We'll watch the situation very carefully and should in the future, we need to act, of course, we won't hesitate to do so," Javid said.
He urged people to continue to be cautious and for those who had not had their third booster coronavirus jab to do so.
"We do know that our very best form of defence is vaccination.
"Sadly, when we look at the latest hospital admissions, a disproportionate number of those people are unvaccinated. And when you look at those requiring the most intensive care, even more are unvaccinated," he said.
The UK hit a new high of 122,186 daily infections on Friday, but did not report figures for Christmas Day.
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