LONDON — The British public and health services are at “rapidly increasing risk” from COVID-19, the U.K.’s most senior health officials warned, amid rising concern about the Omicron variant.
The U.K. is moving to COVID-19 alert “level 4,” the U.K.’s chief medical officers and NHS England National Medical Director Stephen Powis said in a joint statement. This means transmission of the virus is high, and pressure on health care services is “widespread and substantial or rising.”
Boris Johnson will address the nation at 8 p.m. local time on Sunday night to provide an update on the country’s vaccine booster program.
“Transmission of COVID-19 is already high in the community, mainly still driven by Delta, but the emergence of Omicron adds additional and rapidly increasing risk to the public and healthcare services,” the statement said.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi earlier told Sky News there are now “cases in hospital with Omicron” — and warned that tens of thousands of Britons could end up hospitalized.
Chief Medical Adviser at the UK’s Health Security Agency Susan Hopkins told the BBC a big wave is “coming straight at us.”
“If we see even half the severity that we saw with Delta then we’re facing a very large number of hospitalizations and potential deaths,” she added. Hopkins said the government — which last week moved to tighten COVID restrictions — “may need to go beyond” even the extra measures set to be debated by MPs on Tuesday.
Face masks are already set become compulsory in most public indoor venues, an NHS Covid Pass will become mandatory for big events, requiring a negative test or full vaccination. People have been asked to work from home if they can.
“It is extremely important that if you are eligible, you get your COVID vaccination now – whether this be your first, second or booster dose,” the health officials’ statement said.
