Omicron: “a tidal wave is coming” in the United Kingdom, warns Boris Johnson

Omicron accelerates, and the British government is worried. “No one should doubt it: there is an Omicron tidal wave coming, and I fear it is now clear that two doses of vaccine are not enough to provide the level of protection we all have. need, ”Boris Johnson said in a televised address on Sunday.

At the same time, the alert level in the face of Covid-19 has been raised in the United Kingdom. It will be upgraded to level four, which means health officials believe the transmission rate is high and that it will put pressure on health services soon.

Earlier today, the government had already announced additional measures, including the extension of the vaccine booster campaign to over 30s from Monday. And the British executive intends to offer a third dose of the vaccine to everyone over 18 in England by the end of December.

Daily test for contact cases

From Tuesday, fully vaccinated contact cases will also be asked to perform antigen tests daily for seven days, while those who are not vaccinated must remain isolated for ten days.

“The Omicron variant is rapidly gaining ground in the UK and is expected to become the dominant strain by mid-December,” Health Minister Sajid Javid said in a statement, explaining that this new measure is intended to “limit impact on people’s daily lives while helping to reduce the spread of Omicron ”.

One third of Covid cases in London

Other measures had already been presented Wednesday by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, including the return to teleworking and the introduction of the health passport in certain places. They will be put to a vote by MPs on Tuesday, and are expected to be adopted with the support of the Labor opposition, despite the mistrust of part of the Conservative camp.

A little more than two weeks after the detection of Omicron in the United Kingdom, the Minister of Education Nadhim Zahawi announced on SkyNews that the first people infected with this variant were hospitalized. Omicron is “so contagious that it will become dominant and grow exponentially,” the minister warned, justifying the government’s efforts to slow its course. In London, Omicron would already represent a third of Covid-19 cases.

With agencies