On Omicron, UK Says "Hospitalisations, Deaths To Drastically Increase"

Coronavirus-related deaths in the UK are expected to "drastically increase" as a result of the rapid spread of the Omicron strain, Health Secretary Sajid Javid told the House of Commons yesterday.

Mr Javid said the variant now accounted for 44 per cent of all Covid infections in London and is expected to become the dominant strain in the city within 48 hours. Across the UK there are 4,713 Omicron cases, he said. The UK Health Security Agency estimates two lakh new cases per day.

"There are currently 10 confirmed people in England who have been hospitalised with Omicron. It is vital we remember that hospitalisations and deaths lag infections by around two weeks. So, we can expect those numbers to dramatically increase in the days and weeks that lie ahead," Mr Javid said.

Those hospitalised are between 18 and 85 years old, and most have received two vaccine doses.

Speaking to British lawmakers on Monday, he said the UK health service (the National Health Service) would be returning "to its highest level of emergency preparedness" to face the expected hospitalisations and deaths triggered by the Omicron strain.

The UK is "locked in a race between a virus and the vaccine", the Health Secretary also told the House of Commons, noting that national alert level had been raised to 'four' - the second-highest.

All of this comes as the United Kingdom confirmed its first death of a person - medical details, including vaccination status, haven't been released yet who contracted the Omicron variant.

This is also the first publicly confirmed death globally from the swiftly-spreading strain.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the variant now accounted for 44% of infections in London (File)

News of the first death comes as medical experts worldwide underline the danger posed by Omicron; early data, the WHO told news agency AFP this week, indicates the strain may cause less severe symptoms but is more transmissible than Delta and reduces vaccine efficacy.

The Delta variant, first identified in India earlier this year, is responsible for most current infections.

"The idea this is somehow a milder version of the virus - I think that's something we need to set (to) one side - and recognise the sheer pace at which it accelerates through the population," UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters in London.

Mr Johnson, who also faces an outcry over staff parties at his Downing Street office last year, has, at this time, ruled out stiffer restrictions over those announced November 27 ahead of Christmas.

The UK government has announced plans to conduct a rapid program of booster doses.

Pfizer and BioNTech last week advised three jabs of their vaccines to combat Omicron. As a result, countries with sufficient stock of vaccines have encouraged their citizens to get jabbed a third time.

India - which has reported 49 Omicron Covid cases nationally - has yet to recommend a booster dose, despite available stock of the Serum Institute's Covishield vaccine.

Last week a panel of the national drug authority asked for local clinical trial data and a proposal, as well as justification for the approval of a booster dose, official sources told news agency PTI.

The Omicron variant - first detected in South Africa last month - has spread to over 60 countries as of last week, the WHO has warned, amid rising panic worldwide over another wave of infections.

With input from AFP, AP, Reuters, PTI