- First patient dies of Omicron in UK – Johnson
- New COVID variant doubling every 2-3 days, minister says
- Get a booster as two vaccines not enough, Britain says
- Johnson’s poll ratings sink – Ipsos MORI survey
At least one person has died in the United Kingdom after contracting the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday, warning that the variant now accounted for 40% of infections in the British capital, reports Reuters.
First Omicron death
Since the first Omicron cases were detected on Nov. 27 in the United Kingdom, Johnson has imposed tougher restrictions and on Sunday he urged people to get booster shots to prevent the health service from being overwhelmed.
“Sadly at least one patient has now been confirmed to have died with Omicron,” Johnson said.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said on Monday that there were 4,713 confirmed cases of Omicron in the UK, adding that the current number of daily infections is estimated to be around 200,000.
Tougher restriction
Asked repeatedly if he could rule out tougher restrictions in England before Christmas, Johnson meandered away from giving a direct answer.
Johnson said there was a spike in Omicron cases in London, with Health Secretary Sajid Javid saying the variant was spreading at a “phenomenal rate”.
Johnson, who is grappling with a rebellion in his party over measures to curb Omicron and an outcry over parties at his Downing Street office during last year’s lockdowns, said people should rush to get booster vaccines to protect “our freedoms and our way of life”.
Criticism
After COVID-19 was first detected in China in late 2019, he faced criticism for initially resisting lockdown.
He has also been criticised for overseeing mistakes in transferring patients into care homes, and for building a costly test-and-trace system that failed to stop a deadly second wave.
Johnson has repeatedly said that while mistakes were made, the government was making decisions swiftly in the biggest public health crisis for generations and that his government was quick to roll out vaccines.
More than 146,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United Kingdom.
Vaccine rollout
As Johnson tries to stem the spread of Omicron, he faces growing anger from libertarians in his party over stiffer restrictions and sinking poll ratings.
At St. Thomas’ Hospital Vaccination Centre in central London, a queue of hundreds of people snaked back onto Westminster Bridge. Reuters journalists also documented queues across London and in Manchester, northern England.
Home testing kits were also unavailable to order. Johnson said there were ample supplies.
Britain is facing a “tidal wave” of infections from the new Omicron coronavirus variant, ministers have warned, as they sound the alarm on rapid transmission rates in London and across the country.
Soaring cases
“While Omicron represents over 20% of cases in England, we’ve already seen it rise to over 44% in London and we expect it to become the dominant Covid-19 variant in the capital in the next 48 hours,” Javid told Parliament on Monday.
Earlier on Monday, he told Sky News: “It’s spreading at a phenomenal rate, something that we’ve never seen before — it’s doubling every two to three days in infections.” He added that it was too soon to tell if cases of the new variant are milder.
Booster dose
“No-one should be in any doubt: There is a tidal wave of Omicron coming,” Johnson said. “But the good news is that our scientists are confident that with a third dose — a booster dose — we can all bring our level of protection back up.”
Javid said 10 people had been admitted to hospital with the new variant. The UK’s Health Security Agency confirmed they were spread around the country and aged between 18 and 85, while the majority had received two vaccine doses.
Javid said on Monday that in the future Britons will need to have had a third vaccine shot to qualify for a valid “Health Pass,” which is needed to enter nightclubs and large venues. He did not go into detail about when that will become mandatory, but said it would be “once all adults have had a reasonable chance to get their booster jab.”
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