VIRAL SPREAD
Covid cases reach new high of 119,789 – but Omicron sufferers 70% LESS likely to need hospital care
COVID cases rose again yesterday, reaching a new high - with a further 119,789 people testing positive for the virus.
Data shows that around 1.4million Brits came down with Covid last week - the highest weekly number since records began - but new data confirm the Omicron variant is LESS severe than first thought.
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A string of hugely positive studies show Omicron IS milder than other strains, with the first official UK report revealing the risk of hospitalisation is 50 to 70 per cent lower than with Delta.
Covid booster jabs protect against Omicron and offer the best chance to get through the pandemic, health officials have repeatedly said.
The Sun's Jabs Army campaign is helping get the vital extra vaccines in Brits' arms to ward off the need for any new restrictions.
The rise in coronavirus infections is 12.8 per cent up on Wednesday and 35.5 per cent up on the same time last week - as 16,817 cases of the Omicron strain were recorded yesterday.
But, amid fears of a January circuit-breaker lockdown to stem the surge, a report by the UK Health Security Agency found a person with Omicron is estimated to be between 31 and 45 per cent less likely to attend A&E compared to Delta and 50 to 70 per cent less likely to be admitted to hospital.
In a separate study, also published this week, Professor Neil Ferguson - dubbed Prof Lockdown - found Omicron patients are 40-45 per cent less likely than Delta patients to end up spending one night or more as an inpatient.
Meanwhile, South African studies have found that people who catch the strain are 80 per cent less likely to be hospitalised than those infected with Delta.
Sarah Crofts, Head of Analytical Outputs for the ONS Covid-19 Infection Survey said: “Our latest results show infections in England increased in the week to 16 December, with around 1 in 45 people infected.
"Scotland also saw an increase with around 1 in 70 people infected and infections remain high in Northern Ireland and Wales, though the trend is uncertain in both.
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“The percentage of cases compatible with the Omicron variant has clearly increased across the UK.
"This is most apparent in England where Omicron appears to have risen sharply, though with significant regional variations.
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“We are monitoring the impact of Omicron very closely and will continue to do so over the holiday period.”
The trio of real-world studies in the UK and South Africa this week offer a glimmer of hope.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid hailed the encouraging news and told families to enjoy their Christmas safe from the threat of tougher restrictions for now.
The data set examined by researchers at Imperial College London included 56,000 cases of Omicron and 269,000 cases of Delta and was taken from PCR tests from 1-14 December.
They found that those testing positive with Omicron are 15-20 per cent less likely to need hospital care and 40-45 per cent less likely to end up spending a night or more as an inpatient.
Half the level of severity means cases would have to rise twice as high to reach the same level of hospital admissions, compared with Delta.
But Prof Lockdown urged caution, telling reporters "it's still early days" and adding we should see more data on hospitalisations next week.
He stressed the reduction in severity of disease must be balanced against the greater risk of getting infected with Omicron in the first place.
"Our analysis shows evidence of a moderate reduction in the risk of hospitalisation associated with the Omicron variant compared with the Delta variant," Prof Ferguson said.
"However, this appears to be offset by the reduced efficacy of vaccines against infection with the Omicron variant.
"Given the high transmissibility of the Omicron virus, there remains the potential for health services to face increasing demand in Omicron cases continue to grow at the rate that has been seen in recent weeks.";
Prof Ferguson added: “We see that even if you do become a case but you're vaccinated, you have a lower risk of being hospitalised than if you're unvaccinated.
“If you’re infected with Delta after two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, you have a certain risk of being hospitalised – and we think the risk is about the same if you're infected with Omicron.
“We think Omicron is less severe but the reason your risk is the same is because the vaccines are slightly less effective, which is what we expected.”
Today England has recorded 107,055 daily cases, Wales 3,292, Scotland 6,215 and Northern Ireland 3,227.
There has also been a further 147 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.
Cases of the virus have been rising fastest in London, with it becoming an epicentre of Omicron infections.
Of the 377 local authorities in the UK, 353 have seen a rise in cases in the last seven days and the five areas where cases have risen fastest are all London boroughs.
Experts have begged Brits to take care over the holiday period, with infections rising sharply.
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A booster shot is the best protection against Omicron, with data suggesting it pushes efficacy back up to 75 per cent.
Dr Jenny Harries, UKHSA Chief Executive said: “Once again, we urge everyone who is able to get a booster jab to come forward and do so. It is the best defence we have against this highly transmissible new variant."
The Sun is also urging readers to sign up to the Jabs Army campaign to make the rollout as smooth and fast as possible.
The percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 in the latest week is estimated to have increased in all regions of England except the north-east, south-west and West Midlands.
In London, around one in 30 people was likely to test positive in the week to December 16 - the highest proportion for any region.
The UK's coronavirus R rate has also remained the same this week, between 1 and 1.2.
But it's important to note that this has a lag of two to three weeks.
The R rate in London, which is the epicentre of infections at the moment, could be as high as 1.6.
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Separate figures from NHS England show that a total of 2,097 people were in hospital in London with Covid-19 as of 8am on December 23.
This is the highest number of hospitalisations since February 27 and is up 44 per cent from a week earlier.
During the second wave of coronavirus, the number peaked at 7,917 on January 18.
Across England, 7,114 patients were in hospital with Covid-19 on December 23, the highest number since November 4 and up 11 per cent week-on-week.
The second-wave peak for England was 34,336 on January 18.
It's important that if you think you have Covid then you get a test and isolate in order to stop the spread of the virus.
These new symptoms could mean that many people are missing infections as a scratchy throat could be part of a cold, and many people could mistake back pain for common aches and niggles.
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A booster jab is the best Christmas gift you can give your family, Boris Johnson told The Sun last night — as data revealed Omicron is half as likely to put people in hospital.
The stunning news from around 80,000 of the first Omicron cases in the UK has finally confirmed hopes that the latest strain is milder.
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Professor Andrew Hayward, director of the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Healthcare and a member of Nervtag, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the findings could lead to the conclusion that elderly people would be less badly affected.
However, he said "that needs to be balanced against the fact that the risk of that severe disease is innately much higher in older people anyway".
The expert added: "I think we simply haven't really seen the data in older people to know.
"It's undeniably good news, but I think we're definitely not out of the danger zone - I think perhaps we can downgrade this from a hurricane to a very severe storm."
Downing Street had been braced to announce a “circuit breaker”. But the new data means no announcement on restrictions for next week are expected before the festive weekend.
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Hopes were rising that fresh curbs could be avoided altogether if hospital admissions do not spike.
Revellers were still warned not to make plans for New Year’s Eve just yet after daily confirmed cases passed 100,000 for the first time in the pandemic.
UK daily Covid cases hit new record HIGH as 106,122 test positive and Brits urged get boosters NOW
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