Omicron Covid-19 deaths in England rise to 12 as pre-Christmas measures 'not ruled out' by Health Secretary

Health Secretary Sajid Javid today refused to rule out the introduction of further measures before Christmas.

Confirmed cases of Omicron in England have risen by 11,304 to 34,473, the UK Health Security Agency said.

In Northern Ireland, cases of the variant increased by 454 to 1,281.

Scotland's cases rose by 284 to 1,075, while in Wales they increased by 91 to 272.

Mr Javid said there are “no guarantees” that he will be able to avoid bringing in new rules following a “sobering analysis” from scientific advisers warning about the threat from Omicron.

Sajid Javid said while there remains uncertainty about the new variant, it is time to be "more cautious" amid the rapid spread of the strain.

Stricter measures could be imposed in light of the warning from experts that there are likely already hundreds of thousands of new infections every day.

Modelling from scientific advisers, published on Saturday, showed that if ministers stuck to the current Plan B measures, there could be a peak of 3,000 hospital admissions in England per day.

Advisers also said hospital admissions with the variant in the UK are “probably around one tenth of the true number” due to a lag in reporting.

Is a Christmas lockdown on the way?

Despite the ramping-up of the booster programme with a big push this weekend, experts said it would not help in terms of hospitals admissions in the near future. Many would be people who are infected now before immunity has had time to build.

Mr Javid said Omicron is “spreading rapidly” and now accounts for around 80% of infections in London and about 60% in England.

Asked about ruling out new coronavirus measures before Christmas, he said there is “a lot of uncertainty”, but that it is “time to be more cautious”.

He told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One: “There are no guarantees in this pandemic, I don't think.

“At this point we just have to keep everything under review.”

Of the advice from scientists, he said: "It's a very sobering analysis. We take it very seriously.

"We do have to challenge data and underlying assumptions, I think that is appropriate, and take into account a broader set of facts."

Meanwhile, thousands of protesters demonstrated in central Brussels today, Sunday, for a third time against reinforced Covid-19 restrictions imposed by the Belgian government to counter a surge in infections.

The Belgian protests come one day after similar action in other capitals including Paris and London. Nations across Europe moved to reimpose tougher measures to stem a new wave of Covid-19 infections sparked by Omicron.

The Netherlands led the way by imposing a nationwide lockdown.

The World Health Organisation reported this weekend that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in 89 countries.

Covid-19 cases involving the variant are doubling every one-and-a-half to three days in places with community transmission and not just infections acquired abroad, said the WHO.

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