Britain’s daily COVID-19 cases have rocketed to record levels for the third day in a row with 93,000 people diagnosed in 24 hours – as gloomy SAGE modelling suggested there could be 5,000 Omicron deaths a day this winter.
Friday’s cases mark a 60 per cent rise in a week but the ultra-infectious variant is believed to be doubling nationally every two days and spreading faster than testing can keep up.
There are already warning signs with Covid hospitalisations in Britain’s Omicron hotspot of London spiking by more than a third in a week – although they are rising from a small base with just 199 admitted on Tuesday.
The surging statistics came as ‘Professor Lockdown Neil Ferguson called for restrictions to be tightened within a fortnight on the back of frightening modelling of the mutant strain. In a best case scenario, Imperial said without further curbs there could be in the region of 3,000 daily Omicron deaths at the peak in January – significantly higher than the previous record of 1,800 during the second wave.
His team at Imperial College London found ‘no evidence’ the variant is less severe than Delta but estimate it is five-and-a-half times more likely to re-infect people and make vaccines significantly weaker. Daily Mail
