Seven people are believed to have died as of Thursday (File)
London:
Britain on Saturday reported a surge in cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant, which government advisers said could be just the tip of the iceberg, and the mayor of London called for a “scheme” to help the city’s hospitals cope. Big event”.
The UK Health Protection Agency (UKHSA) said the number of recorded omicron cases across the country stood at around 25,000 as of 1800 GMT on Friday, up from more than 10,000 cases 24 hours earlier.
Previous figures from the UKHSA are believed to have gone from one death to Thursday, the Omicron version, which saw seven people died. The number of people thought hospital admissions increased from version 65 to 85.
The government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said it was “almost certain” that hundreds of thousands of people were becoming infected with the variant every day and were not being picked up in the figures.
“The modeling indicates at least 3,000 hospitalizations per day in England,” SAGE said without further tightening the COVID-19 rules, they said in minutes of a meeting on 16 December.
Last January, before Britain’s vaccination campaign ramped up, daily hospital admissions in the United Kingdom topped 4,000 overall.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has faced rebellion in his governing Conservative party over some of the measures taken so far to contain the latest spread of COVID-19. Johnson’s Brexit minister David Frost had resigned partly because of the new rules, a newspaper said on Saturday.
Advisers said it was too early to assess the severity of the disease caused by Omicron, but that “very high numbers of infections would still put significant strain on hospitals” if the delta version had a slight decrease.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a “major event” – one that allows for closer coordination between public agencies and possibly more central government support – as COVID-19 hospitalizations in the city increased by nearly 30% this week.
He said the absence of health workers has also increased.
“It’s a statement of how serious things are,” he said.
Khan of the opposition Labor Party also announced a major incident in January, when rising COVID-19 cases put hospitals at risk.
The Omron edition estimates more than 80% of the new COVID-19 cases in London, officials said on Friday.
emergency meeting
Johnson was due over the weekend to chair an emergency committee meeting with devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which have their own powers over public health.
A report in The Times newspaper said officials were preparing draft rules that, if introduced, would ban indoor mixing in England – except at work – two weeks after Christmas when pubs and restaurants Outdoor table service will be limited.
The paper said people would be able to meet in groups of up to six, adding that ministers were yet to formally consider the plans.
“We’re not calling things off,” Johnson said on Friday.
A government spokesman said the government “will continue to watch all emerging data closely and will review our measures as we learn more about what follows”.
The number of all-new COVID-19 cases reported in official figures fell to 90,418 on Friday from a record high of more than 93,000, but it was still the country’s second-highest daily toll. The figures are usually lower on weekends.
Cases were up 44.4% in the seven days till December 18 compared to the previous week.
Police clashed with a group of protesters protesting the latest COVID-19 restrictions near Johnson’s Downing Street office and residence on Saturday. Police said several officers were injured but no arrests have been made so far.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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