Omicron cases surge in UK

Britain reported a surge in cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant which government advisors said could be just the tip of the ceberg, and London's mayor declared a "major incident" to help the city's hospitals cope.

The number of Omicron cases recorded across the country hit almost 25,000 as of Saturday, up by more than 10,000 cases from 24 hours earlier, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.

Seven people believed to have had the Omicron variant had died as of Thursday, up from one death in the UKHSA's previous data which ran up to Tuesday. Admissions to hospital of people thought to have the variant increased to 85 from 65.

The government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said it was "almost certain" that hundreds of thousands of people were being infected with the variant every day and were not being picked up in the figures.

SAGE said without a further tightening of Covid-19 rules, "modelling indicates a peak of at least 3,000 hospital admissions per day in England," they said in minutes of a meeting.

Last January, before Britain's vaccination campaign gathered speed, daily hospital admissions in the United Kingdom as a whole surged above 4,000.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has faced a rebellion in his governing Conservative Party over some of the measures he has taken so far to try to curb Covid-19's latest spread. A newspaper said on Saturday that Johnson's Brexit minister, David Frost, had resigned in part because of the new rules.

The advisors said it was too early to assess the severity of disease caused by Omicron but if there was a modest reduction compared to the Delta variant, "very high numbers of infections would still lead to significant pressure on hospitals".

London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a "major incident" - which allows for closer coordination between public agencies and possibly more central government support - as Covid-19 hospital admissions in the city rose by nearly 30% this week, reports Reuters.

He said health worker absences had also increased. "This is a statement of how serious things are," he said.

Khan, from the opposition Labour Party, also declared a major incident in January, when rising Covid-19 cases threatened to overwhelm hospitals.

The health secretary, Sajid Javid, has made clear that tougher Covid restrictions could be imposed in England before Christmas.

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Javid stressed that it was already clear that Omicrom spread very quickly, adding that there were likely to be many more cases than official data is showing.

The Omicron variant is estimated to account for more than 80% of new Covid-19 cases in London, officials said.

Germany's health authority announced late Saturday that Britain had been added to its list of Covid high-risk countries, which will mean tighter travel restrictions.

Johnson was due to chair an emergency committee meeting yesterday with the 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 which, if introduced, would ban indoor mixing in England -- except for work -- for two weeks after Christmas when pubs and restaurants would be limited to outdoor table service.

Nations across Europe moved to reimpose tougher measures to stem a new wave of Covid infections spurred by Omicron, with the Netherlands leading the way by imposing a nationwide lockdown.

All non-essential stores, bars and restaurants in the Netherlands will be closed from December 19 to January 14, caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte said at a hastily arranged press conference Saturday night. Schools and universities will shut until 9 January, he said.

Iran has detected the first case of the Omicron variant, deputy health minister Kamal Heidari told state television yesterday.

An Iranian man from Tehran had tested positive after returning from the United Arab Emirates.

In India, Delhi yesterday reported over a hundred cases of coronavirus in 24 hours - the highest daily spike in nearly six months.

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new strategy called 'test-to-stay' that allows unvaccinated children to stay in school even if they have been exposed to Covid-19, the institute's director Rochelle Walensky said.

Meanwhile, a recent analysis by Pune-based BJ Government Medical College (BJMC) and Sassoon hospital has revealed that high levels of protection against Covid-19 have been detected in over 500 healthcare workers even three to seven months after taking two doses of Covishield.

With high levels of protection in participants at this point, the study concluded that a third booster, while a chunk of population is yet to get their second shots, may not be advisable, Dr Muralidhar Tambe, professor and Head of Community Medicine at BJMC, told TOI.