LONDON, Dec 13:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson today confirmed the UK’s first death from the Omicron variant of Coronavirus, probably the first known fatality from the highly transmissible variant of COVID-19 in the world.
The news of the UK’s first fatality came on a day when Health Secretary Sajid Javid warned that the Omicron variant is “spreading at a phenomenal rate” and infections are continuing to double every two to three days.
“We are clearly once again in a race between the vaccine and the virus,” he said.
Ten people in England are in hospital with the new COVID variant, first detected in South Africa, with one death now reported related to Omicron in the UK.
Prime Minister Johnson, during a visit to a vaccine clinic in west London confirmed the country’s first death from the Omicron variant of COVID-19 as long queues were seen outside walk-in vaccination centres across the UK with people queuing for their booster vaccine doses.
Johnson warned against the complacency of the mildness of the variant and also refused to rule out bringing in further restrictions beyond the government’s work from home guidance now in force as part of measures to tackle the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
“Sadly, yes, Omicron is producing hospitalisations and sadly at least one patient has been confirmed to have died with Omicron,” he told reporters.
“So, I think the idea that this is somehow a milder version of the virus, I think that’s something we need to set on one side and just recognise the sheer pace at which it accelerates through the population. So, the best thing we can do is all get our boosters,” he said. (PTI)
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