Omicron to be dominant variant in London within 48 hours
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has told MPs that daily Covid omicron infections are now estimated to be around 200,000, with the variant expected to become dominant in London within 48 hours.
Addressing MPs, he said: “There are now 4,713 confirmed cases of Omicron in the UK. And the UK Health Security Agency estimates that the current rate of, the current number of daily infections are around 200,000.
“While omicron represents over 20 per cent of cases in England, we’ve already seen it rise to over 44 per cent in London and we expect it to become the dominant Covid-19 variant in the capital in the next 48 hours.”
Meanwhile, NHS England has announced that it will return to its highest level of emergency preparedness: level four national incident.
The move means that the NHS response to omicron will be coordinated as a national effort rather than led by individual trusts.
