Live updates: follow the latest news on Covid-19 variant Omicron
The UK is going to experience a “really rather large wave of Omicron” and deaths in the next few months, a scientist advising the government has said.
And Prof John Edmunds, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), told a Royal Society of Medicine briefing that the coronavirus would keep evolving to escape immunity.
Prof Edmunds said that “we’re certainly not out of the woods”, and that sequencing suggested Omicron had been around since mid-October.
“I think over the next two months we’re going to see a really rather large wave of Omicron," he said.
"We’re getting large numbers of cases and that will result in a large number of hospitalisations and, unfortunately, it will result in a large number of deaths. I’m pretty sure of that.
“What happens next? It’s pretty clear the virus hasn’t done with evolution. It’s going to continue to evolve.
“I’ve long thought that what we’ll start to see is that the virus evolves towards being more of an immune escape than necessarily more transmissible.”
Prof Edmunds said that would occur “once we have high levels of immunity in the population, because that’s the selective pressure acting on the virus”.
“I think that’s what we’ve just seen. Omicron is … able to evade much of our wall of immune resistance, not all of it, but it is able to get around some of it," he said.
“And I think that’s probably the way that the virus will continue to move, shifting to get around our defences, mainly through evading the immune response.”
Prof Edmunds said he would be very surprised if updated vaccines to tackle variants were not needed.
Prof Peter Openshaw, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, also spoke.
Prof Openshaw said he thought that, as people become exposed to the coronavirus throughout their lives and it "becomes part of the landscape of viruses which we encounter, I think it’s still going to be a significant cause of serious lower respiratory tract infection and it’ll become one of the viruses that enter the differential diagnosis when somebody comes in with, say, winter flu-like illness”.
Earlier, Prof Edmunds told the online seminar that he was in favour of restrictions to tackle the current wave.
“Unfortunately, because this thing is doubling so quickly, if we wait until we see significant numbers of cases in hospitals and in hospitals here in the UK … it will be far too late to act,” he said.
“I think it’s a necessary evil. It’s very damaging for parts of the economy, the hospitality sector, retail sector in particular – they’re going to be affected.
“Unfortunately, we have to do it. The rate at which this virus is spreading is doubling every two or three days.
“If you think what that means in a week, you go through about three doublings in a week, so the epidemic doubles and doubles again and doubles again.
"So ... if you’ve got, let’s say 1,000 infections today then in a week’s time you’ve got 8,000 and in two weeks’ time you’ve got 64,000.
“So that’s why we have to take measures now. Even though there’s very few cases here now and it seems like an overreaction, it absolutely is not an overreaction.”
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Health workers take a break from administering Covid-19 swab tests in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The country reported its first case of heavily mutated coronavirus Omicron variant of concern on December 3 in a citizen returning from South Africa. EPA -
A health worker holds a vial of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at a pop-up in Manhattan, New York City. Reuters -
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, wearing a protective face covering to combat the spread of the coronavirus, leaves No 10 Downing Street in central London to take part in the weekly session of Prime Minister Questions at Parliament. He is facing a backlash from some of his own MPs over new coronavirus restrictions as he contends with a slump in support and questions about his future. AFP -
A dose of Covid-19 vaccine is given to a school pupil during a vaccination drive for children aged 6 to 11, in West Java, Indonesia. The country has reported that more than 4.2 million coronavirus infections with cases among people aged 18 and under making up 13 per cent of Indonesia’s total cases. EPA -
Medical workers take nasal samples from people at a makeshift coronavirus testing site in Seoul, South Korea. AP -
Brentford’s Premier League clash with Manchester United has this week been postponed due to a Covid-19 outbreak at the Old Trafford club. By Tuesday morning, the English Premier League had been hit by 42 positive tests. Photo: Manchester United FC -
Visitors wear masks at a shopping centre in Beijing. Chinese state media said the first case of the Omicron variant had been detected in the country's mainland in Tianjin city, about 135km east of the capital. AP -
People shop for Christmas in Sydney. Covid-19 restrictions will ease further across the state of New South Wales, including rules for unvaccinated people. Getty Images -
The body of a person who died from Covid-19) is pushed to be cremated by the Farmington Funeral Home in New Mexico, US. Reuters -
People take a ski lift wearing a mandatory mask as a preventive measure against Covid-19, in the Alpe d’Huez ski resort, France. AFP -
Nathan Blackwater holds his daughter, Nylah, as she receives her first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in Shiprock, New Mexico. Reuters -
Medical workers in protective suits collect swabs from residents at a Covid-19 testing site in Ningbo, China. Reuters -
Covid-19 patient Larry Goff, 61, in an isolation room at San Juan Regional Medical Centre in Farmington, New Mexico. Reuters -
A man has a nose swab sample collected at a mobile Covid-19 testing unit in Manhattan, New York. Reuters -
Daniel and Paris Hokin wait for their Covid-19 test results with their children at a check point in Coolangatta, on Australia's Gold Coast, before entering Queensland. Getty -
Skiers wait for a cable car in Obereggen, Italy. The Italian government tightened health restrictions from December 6 to combat the rise in Covid-19 cases. Getty -
Protesters take part in a demonstration against Covid-19 health restrictions in Austria, which became the first EU country to say it would make vaccinations mandatory. AFP -
Pilgrims walk towards Our Lady of Guadalupe Basilica in Mexico City on Sunday after the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. AP -
Ukrainians take part in a protest against Covid-19 restrictions for unvaccinated people in Kiev. EPA -
Medical workers protest against the Belgian government's Covid-19 restrictions in Brussels. Reuters -
Travellers wear protective suits at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, near Jakarta. Indonesia has banned travellers from eight African countries in an effort to curb the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant. Reuters -
A medic prepares a Covid-19 vaccine dose during an inoculation campaign in the Palestinian city of Rafah. AFP -
An electronic stock market board in Tokyo, Japan. Stocks advanced in Asia after a broad rally on Wall Street amid hopes that the Omicron strain will not pose a big economic threat. AP -
A woman undergoes a PCR test at a Covid-19 testing centre in Seoul, South Korea. AFP -
A woman attending a religious festival in Managua, Nicaragua, has her hands sprayed with sanitiser as a precaution against Covid-19. EPA -
A restaurant worker in Warsaw checks a customer's proof of vaccination. From March, Poland's health workers, teachers, police and other uniformed service workers will need to be vaccinated against Covid-19. AP -
Activists lit about 12,000 candles in Bern, Switzerland, in memory of the people who have died from Covid-19 in the country. EPA -
A pedestrian walks past a mobile Covid-19 vaccine clinic in Manhattan, New York. Reuters -
A healthcare worker prepares to give a woman a Covid-19 vaccine dose in Lima, Peru. Reuters -
A 'Mask Up For Christmas' sign in Manchester. The UK government is advising people to receive Covid-19 booster shots as it reintroduces safety measures. Getty -
A man walks along the bank of the Danube Canal during the lockdown in Vienna. Graffiti on the wall reflects opposition to the Covid-19 vaccination campaign. AP -
A trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks rallied on Wall Street as investors hoped that the Omicron coronavirus variant will not pose a big economic threat. AP -
A Christmas market in Berlin. Germany is dealing with a rising number of coronavirus infections. EPA -
A lab worker handles positive Covid-19 samples to be sequenced in the virology laboratory of the APHP Henri Mondor Hospital in Creteil, on the outskirts of Paris. AFP -
A health worker collects a swab sample of a passenger who arrived in Karnataka by train, following the detection of the Omicron strain in the Indian state. EPA -
Officials disinfect the cabin of an Asiana Airlines plane at Incheon International Airport in South Korea amid mounting concerns about the Omicron variant. EPA -
Signage for a vaccination site in a Manhattan subway station as the Omicron strain continues to spread in New York. Reuters -
Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a press conference in Downing Street after ministers met to consider imposing new restrictions in response to rising cases and the spread of the Omicron variant. PA -
A member of the Western Cape Metro Emergency Medical Services receives vaccines from an ambulance in Cape Town, South Africa. AFP -
People queue for Covid-19 booster jabs outside a vaccination centre in London. UK government health experts are advising that all people aged over 18 should receive Covid-19 booster shots. EPA
Prof Edmunds said Omicron was a “step back” but urged people to have their booster vaccines, adding that they were “likely to offer some protection, particularly against severe disease”.
“So I think it’s absolutely critical that people get a booster dose as rapidly as possible," he said.
"That is our best defence. I think it will help very significantly, but I still think that we’re likely to be under quite a lot of pressure in very short time."
Prof Edmunds also said he was in favour of vaccinating young children, because in the UK the “Delta wave has been driven really by school-aged children”.
“Now you see equivalent rates of infection in primary school-aged children as you do in secondary school,” he said. “Every child who is infected will expose an adult.
“They must. They all live at home with adults. So every single one will expose an adult to coronavirus, and so from that, transmission can occur particularly if the adult is unvaccinated.
"But even with vaccines there is not 100 per cent protection.”
