The Omicron mutation has now become dominant in London as it accounts for more than 50% of Covid cases confirmed in the British capital based on preliminary new figures, the city's public health supervisor told the local Evening Standard newspaper.
Professor Kevin Fenton said analyses of samples of confirmed cases confirmed that Omicron had overtaken Delta. The evidence has not yet been confirmed by the relevant Health Protection Agency UK. UKHSA, but on Monday Health Secretary Sajid Javid had said Omicron would be the predominant mutation in London by Wednesday afternoon.
Professor Fenton also reported that hospitalised coronavirus carriers in London have risen to 1,360, the most since early March when the city was emerging from the second wave of the pandemic. The majority of these are not fully vaccinated and "almost all" are carriers of the Delta mutation.
It should be noted that up to 2 million residents of the British capital have not been vaccinated against coronavirus.
With the NHS public health system now at its highest level of alert due to an expected increase in hospital admissions and due to the acceleration of the vaccine booster programme, a call has gone out for a boost to the nursing workforce.
A spokesman for Abicare, which provides home nursing care, told the Guardian that it has begun recruiting additional numbers of British nurses living in Greece, Spain and elsewhere to meet the care needs of convalescent patients being transferred from London hospitals to hotels to free up beds for Covid patients.
The concern of Britain's health authorities about the spread of Omicron was made clear by officials from various organisations giving evidence to the Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee this morning.
UKHSA chief medical adviser Dr Susan Hopkins said the doubling time for Omicron infections was decreasing from the two-day to three-day period that was currently in place. He added that the data show that the risk of reinfection with coronavirus due to Omicron is three to eight times higher than previously.
The head of the data section of the same agency, Professor Stephen Riley, noted, however, that there will be a natural limit to the length of time the variant can spread at this high rate.
Dr Hopkins also urged people in the country to undergo rapid tests before leaving home for places where there will be a gathering of people.
At the same time, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned the Cabinet, meeting by teleconference after months, that "a huge outbreak of Omicron is coming". Chief Medical Officer of England Professor Chris Withee told ministers to expect a "significant increase in hospitalisations" because of the Omicron variant.
However, appearing by video link to the British parliamentary committee, the head of the Southern African Medical Association, Angelique Kuji, said there was no need for tighter restrictive measures as Omicron outbreaks were largely mild.
He urged people to get vaccinated, wear a mask and avoid large gatherings.
In another debate in the House of Commons, the British Health Secretary announced the removal of all 11 African countries on the red travel list from the red travel list as the Omicron mutation is now widespread in the UK. However, the diagnostic tests required for visitors from all overseas countries will be maintained.
He reiterated that while there are 4,713 identified cases of Omicron in the UK, the UKHSA estimate is that there are actually over 200,000 new Omicron infections every day.
Source: KYC
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