UK government rules out new restrictions before Christmas
ABC News
The British government says it won’t introduce any new coronavirus restrictions until after Christmas, and called early studies on the severity of the omicron variant encouraging
LONDON -- The British government said Thursday it won’t introduce any new coronavirus restrictions until after Christmas, and called early studies on the severity of the omicron variant encouraging.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said two studies suggesting omicron carries a significantly lower risk of hospitalization than the previously dominant delta strain was “encouraging news.” But he said it was “not very clear yet...by how much that risk is reduced.”
The U.K. Health Security Agency is due to publish new data on omicron later Thursday. It follows two studies, from Imperial College London and Scottish researchers, that found patients with omicron were between 20% and 68% less likely to require hospital treatment than those with delta.
Data out of South Africa, where the variant was first detected, have also suggested omicron might be milder there. Scientists stress that even if the findings of these early studies hold up, any reductions in severity need to be weighed against the fact omicron spreads much faster than delta and is more able to evade vaccines.
