Derby Telegraph

PM warns of Omicron ‘surge’ throughout the country as Plan B continues

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BORIS Johnson warned of an Omicron “surge” in a new statement issued yesterday.

The Prime Minister was visiting a vaccinatio­n centre when he spoke out, saying Plan B measures will continue to stay in place.

During the visit to the Guttman Centre at Stoke Mandeville Stadium in Aylesbury, Buckingham­shire, Mr

Johnson said that it would be “absolute folly” to think that the pandemic was over.

With pressure from health officials to put stronger restrictio­ns in place, the Prime Minister stated that the measures we have now are the right ones.

He said: “There’s no question Omicron continues to surge through the country. I think we’ve got to recognise that the pressure on our NHS, on our hospitals, is going to be considerab­le in the course of the next couple of weeks, and maybe more.”

Mr Johnson said the booster programme and Plan B measures made a difference, but added: “There are still quite a lot of people who have had two jabs, but haven’t had the third. The third jab really does make a big, big difference.”

He praised science and the vaccine for putting the country in a much stronger position to deal with the virus than last year, while urging people to get their third jab.

He said: “I would say to everybody looking at the pressures on the NHS in the next couple of weeks, and maybe longer, looking at the numbers of people who are going to be going into hospital, it will be absolute folly to say that this thing is all over now bar the shouting.

“We’ve got to remain cautious. We got to stick with Plan B. We’ve got to get boosted.”

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