the level of alert raised in the United Kingdom, faced with the strong surge of the Omicron variant

A cut above. Health officials in the United Kingdom announced on Sunday December 12 to raise the Covid alert level due to a “rapid increase” cases of the Omicron variant, which prompted the government to announce new measures.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will address the nation in an address broadcast on Sunday at 8 p.m. (9 p.m. Paris) to take stock of the situation in the UK, where the total number of Omicron cases detected has reached 3 137, an increase of 65% compared to the total of 1,898 cases identified on Saturday. Detected in the UK just over two weeks ago, Omicron should be the dominant variant within days, the government believes.

Faced with its rapid spread, the alert level has been raised from three to four, the second highest level? This level indicates that “transmission is high” and that the pressure on health services is “significant or increasing”.

“Early evidence shows that Omicron spreads much faster than Delta and that vaccine protection against symptomatic diseases of Omicron is reduced.”, underline health officials from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in a joint statement.