The Prime Minister is to address the nation later this evening and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have increased the UK’s Covid alert level to four on Sunday, which is the second highest amid the huge spike in Omicron cases.
The government have said in a statement, “Early evidence shows that Omicron is spreading much faster than Delta and that vaccine protection against symptomatic disease from Omicron is reduced.”
The immediate rise in the alert level means that the UK’s health authorities are concerned that the rates of transmission is high in the community, with more pressure being placed on the NHS.
It is expected that the Prime Minister will now introduce social distancing measures and the level five alert is the highest on the, which this indicates there is a “material risk” of the NHS being overwhelmed and a national lockdown could be imposed to curb infections.
This comes as Dr Susan Hopkins the chief medical adviser for the UKHSA has raised serious concerns of the impact Omicron will have on the NHS this winter.
She warned that even if they see half of the severity seen with Delta then the UK is “facing a large number hospitalisations and potential deaths.”
Dr Hopkins told Marr, “We are worried and we’re right to be worried because we don’t have enough data to narrow those predictions and those models down to the best finest detail yet, and it takes time to do that.
“I still think it will take another two weeks before we’re clear on whether the severity that South Africa have reported in some scenarios, but not in all, is going to be reflected here.
She added, “If we see even half the severity that we saw with Delta then we’re facing a very large number of hospitalisations and potential deaths.”
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