UK Covid news live: 30% of cases in London are now Omicron as Govt advised to bring in tougher restrictions

Tougher Covid restrictions may be needed to prevent Omicron causing anywhere between 25,000 to 75,000 deaths in England over the next five months, according to scientists advising the Government.

Experts from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), who also sit on the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M) or the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), used experimental data to look at how Omicron may transmit as the country heads into 2022.

Even under the most optimistic scenario (low immune escape of Omicron from vaccines and high effectiveness of booster jabs), a wave of infection is projected which could lead to a peak of more than 2,000 daily hospital admissions, with 175,000 hospital admissions and 24,700 deaths between December 1 this year and April 30, 2022.

This is if no additional control measures are implemented over and above the current Plan B introduced by the Government in England.

The team said mask-wearing, working from home and booster jabs may not be enough, and predict a peak of daily hospital admissions of 2,400 in January.

Social mixing and people being on the move rose sharply after the second UK lockdown but dropped days before Christmas 2020, according to new research.

Researchers at the University of Southampton tracked the movement of Facebook users for a year from March 2020.

Their findings, published in the International Journal of Health Demographics, show that following lockdown two (November 2020), there was a peak in people travelling and mixing – whether for work, shopping, schooling or socialising.

WorldPop director Professor Andy Tatem said: “These fully anonymised data from Facebook shows us trends of how people were moving around their local area, or indeed further afield, during and between the three UK lockdowns and how users were clustered during these periods.

“Our analysis of the weeks approaching and after last Christmas shows there was a sudden surge in activity immediately after the November lockdown ended and then a dramatic drop in the ten days from around 18th-20th December.

“With levels of infection currently still high ahead of this Christmas and concern about the new omicron variant, our study gives useful insights into people’s response to the tightening and relaxation of measures, as well as into mixing patterns during the festive season.”

Two police officers have been disciplined for attending a party in breach of Covid-19 lockdown rules.

Police were called to the gathering at a house in Hove, East Sussex, at 8.46pm on May 15 where they found a number of off-duty colleagues present.

At the time of the incident, coronavirus regulations stated that people should only mix with their own household or linked households.

A total of 10 officers were later issued with fixed penalty notices of £200 each for breaching the rules.

A police constable and an acting police sergeant from Sussex Police who were at the party have now been sanctioned by the force’s Professional Standards Department.

A force spokeswoman said: “An internal investigation carried out into the incident resulted in one of the police officers involved being given a written warning and an acting police sergeant given reflective practice, which requires officers to reflect on their actions and to improve their performance.”

Detective Superintendent Rachel Carr said: “We have taken COVID-related breaches very seriously and we do not tolerate this kind of behaviour which falls below the standards we expect of our officers and staff.”

Manager Patrick Vieira has revealed Crystal Palace will no longer have a Christmas party due to the escalating coronavirus situation in the country.

Vieira, who revealed he is double vaccinated ahead of Sunday’s game with Everton, remembers celebrating during the festive period as a player but revealed a joint decision had been made to scrap such plans for his squad at this time of year.

“This is part of the culture of this country, this Christmas party the players are doing,” he said.

“We did it a couple of years ago and this is something players like to do but obviously with the situation, we and the players decided to cancel the Christmas party and this was the right thing to do.”

Omicron could overtake Delta as the dominant Covid-19 variant as early as next week, an expert has warned.

Professor Jason Leitch, the National Clinical Director of the Scottish Government, told Sky News: “All four countries are managing this the way they think they should. It’s not any different.

“There may be slight variations regionally around England but you’re pretty much where we are.”

He said Omicron will be the dominant variant by the beginning of next week.

“We’ve done this four times now… we’ve had four variants. Unfortunately two of them have come four weeks before Christmas. You couldn’t make this virus up, it’s like fiction.”

Formula One’s biggest stars – including Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris – have teamed up to promote Covid-19 vaccinations.

In the short film, the drivers take turns to urge fans to get the jab this winter.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton can be seen saying: “We’re finding our way back to things we love but Covid has not gone away.”

Verstappen is seen donning a face mask as he says: “Please do your bit.”

Sebastian Vettel says: “Get vaccinated – I think it’s the sensible thing to do.”

F1 Group chief executive Stefano Domenicali says: “I’ve had my vaccine – actually, I did my booster. Do your bit please.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “It is fantastic to see F1 drivers playing their part, encouraging others to get their top up jab to secure the vital protection they need as the virus goes on the advance this winter.

“More than 21 million people have received their booster jab and I urge all those eligible to come forward, roll up their sleeves and get protected as soon as they can.”

Eleanor Riley, a professor of immunology and infectious disease, said Omicron is spreading so fast that people are “very likely” to meet someone infected with the Covid-19 variant unless they are “living the life of a hermit”.

The University of Edinburgh academic also warned “a lot of people” could still end up in hospital even if the coronavirus mutation proves to provoke milder symptoms than the Delta variant.

Prof Riley told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Omicron is spreading so quickly that, I think, unless you are living the life of a hermit, you are very likely to come across it in the next few weeks.

“I don’t think anyone should be going around thinking they are not going to catch it, I think that situation has changed.”
She added: “There is a huge ‘if’ about this, ‘is it milder?’. I think it is very dangerous to compare data from South Africa, say, to the UK.

“Even if it is milder and, therefore, a smaller proportion of infected people end up in hospital, given that so many people are going to come across this virus, even a small proportion of a lot of people is a lot of people in hospital.”

A hospital ward has been closed to new admissions due to a Covid-19 outbreak, an NHS spokesman said.

NHS Highland said that Ward 7a at Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, is closed to new admissions and visiting following the detection of a small number of cases of Covid-19.

Patients are being clinically assessed and monitored with normal in-patient care continuing.

The NHS spokesman said: “There is no evidence of any link between these cases and those in ward 5a, which also remains closed to new admissions and visiting.”

Tests are establishing whether any of the cases are of the Omicron variant and the results are expected next week.

Consultant microbiologist Adam Brown said: “The fact that we have apparently unrelated instances of Covid-19 in two different wards shows how prevalent the virus is in the community at the moment.

“It is more important than ever to keep to guidance about distancing, hand-washing and wearing a face covering.”

The chair of the National Care Association has said new rules on care homes have “almost” taken people back to the restrictions that were in place a year ago.

Nadra Ahmed, of the National Association of Care Providers, said she is hoping to get clarity on the new guidance.

She told BBC Breakfast: “Families are much bigger than [three people], if you’ve got four siblings, five siblings, you’ve got grandchildren, great grandchildren.

“It was something that we’ve been having to plan for and, of course, now we’re looking at three nominated people. That kind of disempowers anybody else and for the residents, they may have been looking forward to it.

“We raise expectations on this quite substantially and, of course, we’re almost back to where we were, just slightly better, but almost back to where we were last year.”