UK records highest ever daily Covid-19 cases amid Omircron wave
The new Omicron wave has hit the UK hard, with the country reporting its highest daily Covid-19 cases since the very beginning of the pandemic.
Wednesday’s reported Covid cases were the highest daily total in the UK since the pandemic began, amid the new Omicron wave.
A total of 78,610 infections were reported by the Government on Wednesday afternoon (local time), 15.5 per cent higher than the 68,053 on January 8, 2021, The Sun reports.
On Tuesday 59,610 cases were reported, and on Monday 54,661.
Meanwhile 4671 additional confirmed cases of the Omicron variant have been reported across the UK – up 90 per cent on Tuesday’s 633.
However, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the figure was higher partly because the definition of an Omicron case had changed, and some cases from Tuesday had been added onto today’s total.
The total Omicron cases in the UK stands at 10,017.
The true number is likely several-fold higher. UKHSA estimates that the current number of “daily infections are around 200,000”.
A marker of Omicron in testing, called the SGFT gene, suggests there have been 24,973 cases so far.
The pace of the outbreak is moving at a speed never seen before, experts say.
It’s being driven by the Omicron Covid variant which is more transmissible than Delta and was only detected in the UK only three weeks ago – but it may have been spreading before this.
The number of people infected with the Omicron variant is doubling every two to three days, possibly less, data shows.
Some 54,000 new diagnoses of Covid are being reported every day, on average, compared with 39,600 one month ago (November 15).
In the past seven days alone, 404,869 people have tested positive for Covid, up 19.1 per cent on the week prior.
The chief of the UKHSA Dr Jenny Harries said today she expects numbers to be “quite staggering” moving forward.
It’s reminiscent of when the Alpha (Kent) variant caused chaos last December, before the Government banned families and friends from mixing just days before Christmas.
Thousands of Brits would have found out their Christmas this year is ruined because they have Covid and need to self-isolate – with hundreds of thousands more in the next few days.
Testing will ramp up to cope with the “unprecedented” demand for PCRs and lateral flows as Omicron explodes.
After failures in the testing system, UKHSA and Royal Mail said capacity for home deliveries of the testing kits are being doubled to 900,000 a day by Saturday.
More lateral flow tests will be available to collect from pharmacies across the UK.
But UKHSA said there may still be suspensions in order from the Government website when there is an influx in demand.
NHS pressure looming
Although cases are as high as the January peak, hospitalisations and deaths are nowhere near the same level due to vaccinations.
Another 774 hospital admissions were announced today, and 165 deaths.
But experts said today it will only be a matter of weeks before the NHS could become overwhelmed, as there is a lag between infections and severe illness.
Prof Graham Medley, a member of the Government’s scientific advisory panel Sage, said: “We’re probably now at the level that we have been at the past, sort of back in January, and it does look as though it’s going to continue beyond that and go over it.
“We could see numbers of people being admitted to hospital getting very large and certainly going over the 1000, maybe up to 2000 a day, that we’ve managed to keep the Delta variant below.”
The number of patients admitted to hospital in the UK is starting to creep up, with 10 per cent more in the past seven days than the week before.
Almost 800 people are admitted every day currently, but experts say it could reach 1,000 to 2,000.
January 12 was the record-high for Covid hospital admissions, with 4,583 on one day.
How deaths and illness severity are affected by Omicron is unclear, said Dr Harries, but this is where the “real potential risk” of the strain lies.
There is early data from South Africa that suggests less people are being hospitalised and dying of the Omicron variant than previous strains, which could be a result of stronger immunity.
Experts are urging people to get their booster Covid jab as fast as possible, with the booking system open to all adults over 18 this morning.
Some 24.7 million people have now gotten their booster jab, with the rollout ramping up to administer one million per day.
Three doses gives 75 per cent protection from Omicron infection, UKHSA estimates, and it’s likely higher for hospitalisation.
With a huge rush to get top-up doses, The Sun’s Jabs Army is calling on thousands more volunteers to sign up.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote in a piece for our readers: “It’s your chance to be part of a record-breaking, lifesaving, Covid-busting effort the likes of which the world has never before witnessed.
“The more volunteers we get, the more people we can protect.”
This afternoon the PM will hold a Downing Street briefing.
And later tonight, senior ministers from all four countries of the UK will hold an emergency Cobra meeting amid alarm over the spread of Omicron.
It comes after Nicola Sturgeon told Scots to restrict socialising to just three households over the Christmas period to battle Omicron.
She’s slapping the country with the toughest measures in months – piling pressure on Boris Johnson to also tighten mixing curbs in England.
The First Minister said the advice wouldn’t apply to main celebrations with friends and family on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
This article first appeared on The Sun and has been republished with permission.
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