The daily Covid cases in Britain have surpassed 50,000, according to official data. There are fears that the Omicron variant could be taking root in Britain.
According to government figures, another 54,584 positive test results were reported in the past 24 hours. This is an increase of 1% from Friday. Yesterday, 53 945 cases of infection were reported.
After six Omicron cases in connection to a Glasgow steps concert, Nicola Sturgeon warns that Omicron is spreading throughout the Scottish community.
Official data also suggests the mutant strain is being transmitted domestically in England, as the number of suspected cases of the mutant strain begins to tick up sharply. To date, Britain has reported 59 cases.
While the variant is likely only making up a small number of cases in the UK — where the vast majority of cases are still the Delta variant — it is feared the country could be on the brink of a fresh wave.
Recent figures have shown that hospitalisations rose 8 percent over a week following 787 cases on November 29. Seven days ago, there had been 730 admissions. However, deaths dropped 10% each week after the addition of 143 fatalities.
Oliver Dowden, Tory chairman and party chair, said that Britons need to ‘keep calm’ as they go about their Christmas preparations, despite growing concern over this variant.
Boris Johnson called for Britons to stop cancelling festive parties. He also said the hospitality industry is being affected by the influx of thousands pulling out their bookings.
According to separate data, almost 950,000 people had Covid in England last week. It was an increase of 4 per cent compared with last week.
According to the Office for National Statistics, no Omicron cases could be linked with Omicron. Virutally all Omicron cases were Delta.
Omicron epicentre Gauteng’s R rates have risen to around one and 3.5 respectively in the past month. This suggests that one in 10 people who are infected by the virus can transmit it to at least 35 other people.
The R rate in Britain has never soared to 1.6, even during the worst days of the second waves.
Official data indicates that there is an increase in the percentage of positive Covid test results for the mutation associated with the extremely-evolved strain. Omicron is similar to Alpha and the ‘Kent varietal’. It has a unique alteration that allows it to be detected using PCR tests, without the need of genomic sequencing. This so-called S gene dropout is responsible for increasing the proportion of Omicron positives in England from 0.1% to 0.3 percent in the last week, which equals one in 330. According to scientists, the increased number of S-gene failures could indicate that hundreds of Omicron cases are currently under radar.
There have been 59 confirmed cases of Omicron in the UK. There have been 29 cases in England of Omicron, with three being in Westminster. Two in Camden and one each in South Northamptonshire, Buckinhamshireshire, Camden and Lewisham. Scotland saw an additional 16-29 cases. Although the first 13 cases were split between Lanarkshire, Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Lanarkshire, a spokesperson for the Government declined to say where they were found. Wales has announced that the first known case of this disease was found in Cardiff.
Official data indicates that nearly 900,000.00 people in England were covered by Covid last week. This graph shows Covid overall rates
South Africa data shows that the R-rate rose to more than three percent in South Africa since Omicron was established in Gauteng.
According to experts who conducted a Government-funded study, booster vaccines for Covid may offer protection against Omicron variant. Graph showing: T-cells in 106 peripheral blood mononuclear cell counts of people who had received two doses AstraZeneca (red bars) or Moderna (blue bar) vaccines.
Today’s official data revealed that there is a rise in the number of Covid positive tests for a mutation associated with this highly evolved strain.
Omicron, like Alpha or the ‘Kent variation’, has a particular alteration that can be detected by PCR without the need to perform genomic sequencing.
England has seen an increase in positive S-gene test results, with a rise of 0.1% in the week before to 0.3% today. This is the equivalent of 1 in 3330.
Scientists believe that hundreds of Omicron cases are currently flying unnoticed by the S-gene dropouts.
There have been 59 confirmed cases of Omicron in the UK. There have been 29 Omicron cases in England so far, with three of them in Westminster. Two in Lewisham, Camden and Barnet.
Scotland has seen an increase in cases from 16 to 29 today. Although the first 13 cases of the disease were split between Lanarkshire, Glasgow and Clyde and Greater Glasgow and Clyde areas, a spokesperson for the Government declined to say where they were found.
Wales also announced today that it has found its first case in Cardiff.
Nine of Scotland’s cases were linked to a single event on November 20 — four days before South Africa alerted the world to Omicron in a move which prompted the world to shut itself of from the nation. The fact the cases were already in the UK suggests transmission within the community is already taking place.
Today, Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Omicron announced that six Omicron cases had been linked to a Steps concert in Glasgow on November 22. The following night, there were no Omicron cases.
Labs determine whether CovidPCR test results are positive by looking for specific parts of the virus. One of these is the spike protein found on the cell’s outside.
On Omicron, the spike has mutated so much that the tests cannot detect it and only confirm whether other parts of the virus are present in a person’s nose and throat swab to tell if they are infected.
Around 50% of PCR tests are performed in England by labs that employ a detection kit to look for spike proteins and other components of the Covid cells.
Omicron is causing an unprecedented increase in South Africa’s cases. Omicron was alerted to by scientists in South Africa who spotted the S gene dropout.
Experts are concerned about the changes in spike protein and have raised concern that the strain might escape vaccination protection or natural immunity due to a prior infection.
But genomic sequencing of positive Covid samples — laboratory analysis that identifies a virus’s genetic make-up, allowing variants and mutations to be detected — remains the only full-proof way to confirm if a Covid infection was caused by Omicron.
Dr Davies tweeted that the increase in S-gene dropout from the usual level of 0.1 per cent to 0.3 percent between November 24 and 28 ‘represents about 60 more SGTF cases than we would expect to see.
‘Given that Omicron causes SGTF, while the otherwise globally dominant Delta variant doesn’t, these “excess” SGTFs are most likely Omicron cases, at least some of which have yet to be confirmed via sequencing.
‘However, this number will probably go up, as the last 2-3 days of data are still filtering in.
He tweeted: ‘The fact that there has been an increase in SGTF isn’t necessarily surprising — we have 22 confirmed Omicron cases in England as of today, so there was going to be an SGTF signal sooner or later. This isn’t meant to be shocking news.’
The apparent increase in Omicron cases could suggest the variant is being spread in the community, or signal that more international arrivals — who are required to take a PCR test within 48 hours of arriving in the UK — are testing positive.
Dr Davies added: ‘In a manner of speaking, we have been lucky in the UK that first Alpha had SGTF, then Delta didn’t, and now Omicron does.
‘Each time, we have been able to use the presence or absence of SGTF to detect probable VOC [variant of concern]Some cases were not available until a few days after the sequencing data was made.
‘The SGTF signal also makes it easier to monitor the severity of a new variant, since it gives us another way to classify a case’s lineage and then to see whether a given lineage is more or less likely to lead to severe disease.’
NERVTAG advises South Africa’s Government about the danger posed by emerging and new respiratory viruses.
All the S-gene Dropout Samples Sequencing in South Africa were confirmed Omicron Cases, making it ‘currently reliable’ as a marker for the variant.
Meanwhile, it was revealed today that the R rate in Gauteng, the epicentre of South Africa’s outbreak, has soared from less than one to 3.5 in just a month — suggesting that every 10 infected people are passing the virus onto 35 others.
This graph shows the percentage of positive tests in South Africa over the past seven days since the outbreak of the pandemic (red line), and daily (blue line).
This graph shows the seven-day average incidence of infections in South Africa’s provinces since October. Guateng saw an epidemic of Omicron waves, with more than 1,000 infections per day.
This comes as a result of data released by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases yesterday evening. It showed that 11,535 Covid cases had been recorded within the last 24 hours. That’s a 368 percent increase on the Thursday, when 2,465 new infection were reported.
The country had 51,402 Covid tests and 22.4% of those tested for the virus. Comparatively, 38.075 percent of the tests were taken last week on the same date and 6.5% were positive.
In the meantime, hospitalisations increased by 180% in seven days. Last Thursday saw 98 patients admitted, and yesterday 274 Covid infected patients needed hospital treatment.
The number of Covid deaths dropped from 114 to 44 on Wednesday, representing a drop of 61%. Because of the length of time required to get seriously ill after contracting the virus, trends in deaths and hospitalizations are two- to three weeks behind those in cases.
Scientists from Stellenbosch University in Cape Town published a preprint that suggests Omicron may be at least 2.4x more likely than original strain to reinfect.
Researchers from the government claim that there have been 35,670 cases of reinfection since the start of the pandemic. In contrast to the first wave of infection in 2002-2003, the rate of reinfection dropped to 0.7 with the Beta-fuelled Second Wave last winter and this summer’s Third Delta surge.
However, the chance of contracting the virus has increased for the first-ever time to 2.4.
The Stellenbosch university, in Cape Town, reported that Omicron may be able to bypass protection from an existing infection. This is unlike natural immunity which suppressed the Beta or Delta versions.
The data could have important implications for public health, particularly in countries with high levels of infection.
There are ‘urgent questions’ about Omicron’s ability to avoid vaccine protection, as well natural immunity. If so, how does this impact hospitalisations or deaths.
Simon Clarke, a microbiologist from Reading University said that the data were the first indication Omicron might be immune to previous Covid infections.
He stated that although they could not confirm Omicron’s reinfection as a fact, the researchers were able to establish that Omicron did not cause the increase in transmission of Beta and Delta variants.
“There’s no evidence to support the idea that this immune evasion occurs, though it may be caused by decreased antibody binding to Omicron’s mutated spike proteins.
He said, “Omicron has made a huge hole in the controversial argument we should allow the infection spread to try to build immunity.”
Herd immunity now appears to be a distant dream. Omicron may have the ability to overcome vaccine-induced immunity. We are waiting for more information.
Researchers are at an all-time high speed trying to determine if Omicron has a higher transmissibility and death rate than other mutant strains. However, they warn that it may take at most a week for reliable estimates to be made.
Initial reports from southern Africa indicated that the majority of cases were either mildly or totally asymptomatic.
There has not been an age breakdown, so it’s impossible to say if this is due to the strain spreading to older persons.
It is considered a mild form of the Omicron virus, according to WHO. Christian Lindmeier spoke for the WHO today in Geneva. He said that he has not yet seen any reports about Omicron-related deaths.
“We’re gathering all of the evidence. We will discover more as we go.
“The more people we test, the more places… We will find more cases, more data, and hopefully, not only deaths, but more.”
Doctors in Norway have confirmed that 60 Omicron-infected people were at Christmas last week and are now experiencing mild symptoms.
Chief physician in the area where the epidemic occurred, Dr Tine Ravlo said that patients were suffering from headaches and sore throats. This is consistent with reports coming out of South Africa.
Only one Omicron case has been identified using genetic sequencing, while 10-15 Omicrons have already been declared.
All cases, however, are presumed to represent the latest variant. More sequencing tests will be performed soon.
Mr Ravlo said the ‘incubation period’ of the new variant — the time from infection to first symptoms — appears to be two to four days.
That is far less than the seven to 14 days for most other Covid variants, and would potentially make outbreaks easier to spot — though the data is still preliminary.
Ravlo stated that all the infections found in Oslo were traced back to the Christmas party, and that there has been no evidence for a wider spread.
However, Dr Kall stated that she was skeptical about the claims of the new strain causing less severe diseases.
On Twitter, she wrote: ‘I am extremely skeptical that it could be more mild. It’s best to assume it is similar in severity as Delta… however, you will see milder symptoms than Delta because more people are immune now.
However, promising data from the UK’s COV-BOOST study suggests the body’s T-cell immune response after a third Covid injection will protect against hospitalisation and death from Omicron.
The findings also support the UK’s decision to use Pfizer or Moderna as boosters, with mRNA jabs turbocharging the body’s antibody and T-cell responses the most.
It is believed that T-cells offer a greater level of protection and longer term than antibodies, which provide an immediate boost but then fade more quickly.
Professor Saul Faust, trial lead and director of the NIHR Clinical Research Facility at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘Even though we don’t properly understand its relation to long-term immunity, the T cell data is showing us that it does seem to be broader against all the variant strains.’
The provides ‘hope that a variant strain of the virus might be able to be handled, certainly for hospitalisation and death if not prevention of infection, by the current vaccines’, Professor Faust said.
Today, Oliver Dowden of the Tory Party insists that people “keep calm” and go ahead with Christmas celebrations despite Omicron. But Britain’s clubs, pubs and restaurants are set to suffer billions as cancellations persist.
Sky News spoke with Mr Dowden. He said: “The message to people is quite simple – keep calm, continue your Christmas plans. Although we’ve established the appropriate restrictions, it is important to keep calm and continue your Christmas plans.
“I know that some people are concerned about this new variant. The Government took the measures we have already described… We believe those are enough at this stage. People should not change their plans beyond what we suggested.
In the midst of confusion over what to do next, some of Britain’s most important employers such as banks, tech and NHS decided to either cancel or move their festive celebrations online. Now, it is a 50/50 split.