The United Kingdom recorded Friday for the third day in a row a new record of contamination with COVID-19, with 93,045 cases identified in 24 hours, according to figures from health authorities.
Confronted according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to a “tidal wave” due to the Omicron variant, which raises fears of a submersion of the health system, the United Kingdom, the country among the most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, deplores a total of 147,048 dead, of which 111 were recorded on Friday.
If in England, the British government was content to reintroduce the wearing of masks in most public places (except pubs and restaurants), to encourage teleworking as much as possible and to introduce a health passport for large gatherings, to the annoyance of some of the majority MPs, the Scottish and Welsh local governments have decided to go further.
In Scotland, where pro-independence Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon says Omicron is now dominant, people have been called to stay at home as Christmas approaches. “The tsunami I alerted about a week ago is now starting to hit us,” she said on Friday.
Companies have been legally required to take “reasonable measures” since Friday to limit the transmission of the virus. Pubs are encouraged to return to table service rather than bar service.
In Wales, Prime Minister Mark Drakeford has ordered nightclubs to close from December 27.
Faced with the variant, the United Kingdom has further accelerated its vaccination campaign and advanced to the end of December the objective of offering all adults a booster dose.