Imposing new curbs on freedom to tackle coronavirus must be a last resort, Sajid Javid has said. Britons hit streets and clubs for New Year celebrations
The health secretary said the UK must look to “live alongside” the disease in 2022 even as he admitted Omicron would push the NHS to its limit.
It came as the UK notched yet another one-day record for new infections, with 189,846, plus another 203 deaths. Separate figures showed an estimated 2.3 million people had Covid-19 in the week ending 23 December.
Separately, people are being warned not to post pictures of their negative lateral flow tests online, amid fears fraudsters are using social media posts to provide fake results.
Meanwhile, NHS bosses have warned that hospitals may have to ban visitors over the next few weeks to avoid spreading Omicron.
Matthew Taylor, the head of the NHS Confederation, said: “When you’re facing the kind of pressures the health service is going to be under for the next few weeks, this is the kind of thing managers have to do.”
Cruise ship detained in Lisbon amid virus outbreak
A cruise ship carrying more than 4,000 people has been held in the Portuguese capital Lisbon after a Covid-19 outbreak infected crew members, according to reports.
Aida Cruises told the German news agency dpa that it discovered the positive coronavirus cases during routine health checks and has accommodated those infected ashore in co-ordination with Portuguese authorities in Lisbon.
Portuguese media reported that 52 members of the crew of more than 1,000 workers tested positive.
None of the nearly 3,000 passengers had tested positive.
All on board had passed a screening test and were vaccinated with two doses before the ship set sail from Germany.
The ship is waiting for the arrival of new crew members to continue its journey to Spain’s Canary Islands, dpa reported.
Ministers must be poised for rapid introduction of new curbs, says senior NHS official
The head of NHS Providers has warned ministers they must be ready to clamp down on freedoms “at pace” if they become necessary – just hours after Sajid Javid said such a move would be a last resort.
Chris Hopson tweeted that coronavirus spread in England was accelerating and NHS staff absences were also soaring.
He added: “If growth rates go back up again (e.g. Xmas effect) trusts likely to have to start standing up extra surge capacity late next week. Putting pressure on less urgent elective activity.”
While there are fewer seriously ill older people in hospital than in previous peaks, pressure is mounting and the next few days will be “crucial”, Mr Hopson said.
In addition there is a lack of testing in London, he said, meaning infection rates may be underestimated despite the appearance of a plateu in cases.
Omicron hospitalisation risk around one third of Delta, new data shows
The risk of people being hospitalised with the Omicron variant of coronavirus is just one third that of the Delta variant, according to new analysis.
The UK is experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, with record daily infection levels reported once again on Friday, writes Chiara Giordano.
But while hospital admissions have also started to rise, the new variant is believed to be milder than the Delta variant – and “encouraging” new data suggests it could pose less of a risk of hospitalisation.
