Public Health

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson reviews the latest Omicron data

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits the Stow Health Vaccination Center in Westminster in London, England on December 13, 2021.

Jeremy Selwyn | Getty Images News | Getty Images

LONDON – UK Head of State Boris Johnson will speak to his senior medical advisors on Monday before deciding whether new Covid-19 restrictions will be imposed on England this week.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have already introduced new restrictions to stop the spread of the Omicron variant and are mainly focused on indoor mixing. But England has so far held back from stepping up current home stay orders and increasing the use of masks.

Johnson will reportedly process new data on Monday, including case numbers, hospital admissions and intensive care numbers, and deaths. The Christmas holidays meant official numbers were suspended over the weekend, but on Friday the UK reported a record of 122,186 infections over a 24-hour period.

Johnson previously said he would not hesitate to act and move in new curbs if necessary after Christmas, but research suggesting the Omicron variant may be less severe than the Delta Tribe could lead to it that he is holding the fire. Information on length of hospital stays and the number of infections leading to hospital admissions will no doubt be of vital importance.

Any new restrictions are likely to be unpopular within his own Conservative Party as many lawmakers recently orchestrated a rebellion against the Prime Minister. A sizeable number are unhappy with the current Covid restrictions as well as a number of slips, scandals and embarrassments over the past few weeks. Johnson’s ratings have also suffered badly in national voter polls.

New measures would also have to be voted on in the wider House of Commons and the legislature removed from the Christmas break. Hence, Johnson might just urge English citizens to be cautious ahead of the New Years Eve celebrations, rather than imposing formal restrictions.

A study by the UK government published on Thursday found that people with the Covid-Omicron variant are far less likely to be hospitalized than with the previous Delta strain.

The UK Health Authority said people with Omicron are estimated to be 31% to 45% less likely to see emergency rooms than those with Delta and 50-70% less likely to be hospitalized.

The analysis is “preliminary and highly uncertain” due to the small number of Omicron cases currently in hospitals, but is consistent with similar results from scientists in South Africa and research teams at Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh.

While the number of daily deaths currently remains low and initial research suggests that the Omicron variant may not be as severe as other strains of Covid, health experts have repeatedly warned that the sheer number of infections is leading to rising deaths and an overwhelmed health system could lead.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the UK has reported nearly 12 million infections and at least 148,324 deaths since the pandemic began in early 2020.

– CNBC’s Ryan Browne contributed to this article.

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