City seeing spread of Omicron
HEALTH OFFICIALS CONFIRM MORE CASES OF NEW COVID VARIANT
PUBLIC health officials in Nottinghamshire say there is now evidence that the “much more transmissible” Omicron variant of coronavirus is spreading among the community.
In a briefing yesterday, They confirmed there were 11 cases of the new variant – nine in the city and a further two in the wider county.
It follows news that the new strain, believed to have originated in South Africa, was in Nottingham.
It was first confirmed at the end of November and targeted testing operations began immediately.
Speaking of the situation Lucy Hubber, public health director for Nottingham city, said: “We’ve just been hearing about the extreme pressures the NHS locally are under and that is undoubtedly going to inform some of the decisions that are being made now as we learn more and more about the Omicron variant.”
She added: “We’ve had notification of confirmed cases of Omicron in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire and these are currently very small numbers but actually those confirmed cases probably belie a higher number of cases in the community that have not yet been confirmed.
“We’ve got lots to learn about Omicron but there are some things that we know about it.
“It is much more transmissible than the Delta variant and that means it can be very easily passed on between people.
“At the moment we are seeing it predominantly in younger age people and they’re experiencing relatively mild illness.
“We don’t yet know the effects when it moves into our older populations.
“Regardless of that, the more cases we have the more chance there are of people becoming seriously ill and that will place more pressure on our NHS.”
Jonathan Gribbin, director of public health for the county, added: “Omicron spreads much more easily than the Delta variant and we have in Nottinghamshire already evidence of community transmission.
“While it is true we don’t know how exactly how big this new wave is going to be or how severe it is there are nevertheless things we can do right now and can do which will delay that wave and reduce its impact.
“If you are a contact of someone who may have been infected with the Omicron variant it is already the case you must self-isolate for 10 days regardless of age, or your vaccination status or whether you have a negative test.”