UK raises alert level, introduces new measures due to Omicron

LONDON: The UK has raised its Covid Alert Level due to the “rapid increase” in cases of the Omicron variant, the country’s four chief medical officers said on Sunday.

The advisers said the public health risk assessment would move from level three to four the second-highest level - which indicates “transmission is high and pressure on healthcare services is widespread and substantial or rising”.

Britain also announced additional measures to stop the spread of the variant, including the extension of booster jabs to people over 30. From Tuesday, fully vaccinated contacts of people who test positive for Covid-19 will be required to take daily lateral flow tests for seven days.

But those who have not had one or two shots of a Covid vaccine will have to self-isolate for 10 days, the Department of Health and Social Care said.

“The Omicron variant is quickly gaining ground in the UK and is expected to become the dominant strain by mid-december,” said Health Secretary Sajid Javid. “We are taking this proportionate and more practical measure to limit the impact on people’s day-to-day lives while helping to reduce the spread of Omicron.”

Britain is banking on vaccination as the best way to stop the rapid spread of the virus --and keep the economy open - with concern that hospitals could be overwhelmed as they also deal with seasonal respiratory infections such as flu. Javid said anyone eligible for a booster should get it as soon as possible.

The government has set itself a target of giving everyone aged 18 and over a booster jab by the end of January.

U.S. Covid deaths reach grim mark of 800,000

The United States on Sunday reached 800,000 coronavirus-related deaths, according to a Reuters tally, as the nation braces for a potential surge in infections due to more time spent indoors with colder weather and the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus.

The milestone means the US death toll from this one virus now exceeds the entire population of North Dakota.

Even with vaccines widely and freely available, the country has lost more lives to the virus this year than in 2020 due to the more contagious Delta variant and people refusing to get inoculated against Covid-19.

Since the start of the year, over 450,000 people in the US have died after contracting Covid, or 57% of all US deaths from the illness since the pandemic started.