Omicron infection wave in the UK could reach 1m a day by the end of December, the government’s most senior public health adviser has warned amid growing calls to limit Christmas celebration,
Dr Susan Hopkins told lawmakers on Tuesday that the Omicron Covid version was initially doubling every two to three days in the UK, but the pace accelerated, adding to the disease, which risked putting “significant” pressure. NHS,
While confirmed cases of the variant are being tracked through genomic testing, the number of omicron infections across the country is estimated to be much higher – according to one estimate. 200,000 Daily infections on Monday – because of a time lag and because many cases are never picked up by the testing program.
Hopkins said that with so many people expected to contract the virus in the coming weeks, the NHS would be under significant pressure if only a fraction became ill enough to require hospital care.