London | Twelve people infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 have died and 104 are hospitalized in the UK, facing a wave of contaminations prompting calls for further restrictions, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said on Monday.
“If we watch Omicron, what we know is that it’s spreading very quickly. We currently have 104 hospitalizations due to Omicron, we have had 12 deaths. But there is a time lag in terms of data so we don’t really know how bad it is going to be, ”Mr. Raab, who is also Minister of Justice, told Times Radio.
“The only thing we know is that those who receive a booster injection benefit from more than 70% effective protection,” he added, justifying the acceleration of the vaccine booster campaign decided upon. by the government eight days ago.
Almost half of those over 12 received a booster or third dose of Covid vaccine in the UK, hit by a sharp increase in the number of cases (+82,886 recorded in 24 hours on Sunday) attributed to the Omicron variant . The country is one of the most affected by the pandemic in Europe with more than 147,000 deaths.
Faced with this outbreak of cases, Boris Johnson voted for new restrictions, including the part of the mask inside public spaces (except in pubs and restaurants) and the introduction of a health pass to enter health clubs. night or participate in big events. But part of his conservative camp opposed these new measures, deemed to be liberticidal.
Boris Johnson finds himself torn between his scientific advisers who call on him to act as quickly as possible to slow down Omicron and some of his ministers who are slowing down the implementation of further measures.
According to The Times, about a third of its ministers, including finance minister Rishi Sunak, oppose the new restrictions.
On Sunday, the Minister of Health Sajid Javid did not rule out the establishment of new rules by Christmas explaining that there is “nothing guaranteed during this pandemic”.