Alarm as Omicron infections spread

Omicron infections in Britain are doubling every three days, causing increasing concern about the speed at which the variant is spreading.

Compulsory mask-wearing in shops has been reintroduced in England as fears rise over the Omicron variant. Picture: AFP

Omicron infections in Britain are doubling every three days, government scientific advisers ­believe, causing increasing concern about the speed at which the variant is spreading.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid acknowledged on Tuesday AEDT that the coronavirus variant was being transmitted “across multiple regions” of the country after government scientists warned him they were alarmed about a sudden rises in Omicron cases.

Epidemiologists said Omicron could well become the dominant strain of the virus within Britain in “weeks rather than months” as scientists become increasingly confident that it spreads faster than the Delta variant.

Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College, who sits on the government’s advisory group, said a useful early measure of Omicron cases “suggests a doubling time of three days or less”.

Scientists at the UK Health Security Agency have drawn similar conclusions after finding that the number of cases suspected of being Omicron more than doubled in the last week of ­November.

Internal government estimates suggest a doubling time of between three and five days and although sources stress they are not confident of the exact numbers, there is now a “strong signal” that the variant is more transmissible. Mr Javid insisted that border restrictions were still helpful to slow the spread.

On Monday 90 more cases of Omicron were confirmed in Britain, taking the total to 336. Mr Javid said this included cases with no link to international travel, telling MPs: “We can conclude that there is now community transmission across multiple ­regions of England.”

Scientists anticipate the variant will completely supplant Delta in Britain and the world, and, if this early rate continues, it could do so in the UK as early as next month. Asked about increased transmissibility of the variant, Mr Javid said it was too early to know whether the variant caused more serious illness or evaded vaccines. “We can’t say for certain at this point whether Omicron has the potential to knock us off our road to recovery,” he said.

None of the UK cases is thought to have been admitted to hospital and estimates of the ratio of cases to admissions, expected over the next week or so, is likely to be key in judging the threat Omicron poses. At the weekend the World Health Organisation said no deaths from the variant had been reported.

While there have been only 25 confirmed cases of Omicron in France, officials say the number could jump significantly in the coming weeks.

Nightclubs have been ordered to close for four weeks from this weekend to counter a Covid surge that has put hospitals under ­severe strain.

Schoolchildren will also face stricter social distancing and ­extended use of face masks, with infection rates climbing among young people, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said.

“We have all had a tendency to lower our guard” in recent weeks, he said. But the government stopped short of imposing stricter measures for the general population or targeting the non-vaccinated, as several other countries have done in recent days.

Instead, Mr Castex said ­employers should encourage staff to work from home and urged people to ease off social engagements such as office parties as the year-end holidays approach.

New York mayor Bill de Blasio cited the emergence of Omicron, cold winter weather and holiday gatherings as “additional challenges” to tackling the pandemic in city, which was hard hit by the virus last year, with at least 34,000 deaths.

On Monday he announced a blanket Covid-19 vaccine mandate for the private sector, starting from late December.

Omicron cases have been confirmed in at least 15 US states since it was first reported in late November.

The Times, AFP