City health bosses today issued new advice to everyone living or working in Liverpool to help combat the new covid variant Omicron.
Liverpool Health Protection Board, which oversees the city's response to the pandemic, warned the variant was now "spreading at an extraordinary rate" and posed "a very serious threat" in the city and across the rest of the UK.
Omicron was spreading faster than the Delta variant, they added, and was causing local outbreaks and disruption to health and care services, as well as the wider economy.
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The board said it was "highly likely" there would be a record peak of cases in a few weeks, as fewer people in Liverpool are protected with the covid vaccine compared with the rest of the UK – a third of adults in Liverpool have not yet had two doses of vaccine, while seven out of 10 people haven't yet had a booster.
In the light of this threat, new advice has now been issued to everyone living or working in Liverpool, to prevent the health and social care system from collapsing.
The nine guidelines from the Health Protection Board are as follows:
- Limit your close contact with other people outside your household. Think carefully before you mix with other people because the Omicron variant is spreading fast and is a grave threat. If you choose to go to an event or mix with other people, follow the guidance below.
- Meet people outdoors where you can. If you decide to meet indoors, avoid crowds, open the windows and make sure there is fresh air circulating.
- Cover your nose and mouth with a face covering anytime you are in close contact with people you don’t live with. Assume that whomever you meet is infected.
- Take a rapid test (LFT) before you meet people, and ask other people to take a test too, including people you live with. Testing is especially important before you meet vulnerable people at risk of serious illness from covid, for example, elderly people, pregnant women and those with long term health conditions.
- Get your first or second dose of the covid vaccine asap, and the booster as soon as you can. Everyone over 18 is eligible for the booster. If you have not had a vaccine yet, come forward now. Vaccines are free, safe, and effective, and will help to protect you from symptomatic illness as a result of covid infection.
- If you have symptoms of covid, even if mild, please immediately isolate and book a PCR test. There is a high risk that people you live with will get infected too, so try to isolate away from other people, wear a face covering if you are in the same room and windows open, and wash your hands frequently and regularly clean the environment.
- If you have been in contact with someone who has covid, you are at much greater risk of becoming infected, and you may spread infection to others. You must isolate for 10 days unless you have had two doses of vaccine or are aged less than 18 years and six months.
- If you are notified to isolate by NHS Test and Trace, and you are on a low income and will lose earnings as a result of having to isolate you may be eligible for a £500 Test and Trace Support Payment. For more information about support to isolate, call 0800 169 3032 or visit here.
- If you are a close contact but are fully vaccinated or aged less than 18 years and six months, do daily rapid tests (LFTS) for a week, before you leave the place you live. Minimise your contact with people outside your household, and stay away from anyone who is vulnerable to serious illness from covid.
