A further 75 cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant have been identified in England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.
It brings the total number of confirmed cases in England to 104 and the UK total to 134.
Those who have tested positive and their contacts have been told to self isolate, and work is now underway to assess any possible links to travel.
Cases have now been identified in the East Midlands, East of England, London, North East, North West, South East, South West and West Midlands.
A further 16 cases have been identified in Scotland, bringing the total to 29. There has been one confirmed case in Wales and none in Northern Ireland.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has released a risk assessment on the new variant – which is said to be more transmissible and better at evading antibodies.
The body warns that as well as being able to evade vaccines and naturally-acquired immunity, the variant could also reduce the effectiveness of antibody treatments.
The UKHSA's risk assessment
- Transmissibility Between Humans – Amber: ‘At least as transmissible as currently circulating variants. Omicron is transmitting rapidly and successfully. Increased transmissibility compared to Delta is biologically plausible.’
- Naturally Acquired Immunity – Red: ‘Mutations suggestive of reduced protection from natural immunity. Based on experience with other variants, laboratory data on individual mutations, and structural modelling, the mutations present are very likely to reduce antibody binding.’
- Vaccine-Derived Immunity – Red: ‘Mutations suggestive of reduced protection from vaccine derived immunity. The mutations present are likely to reduce antibody binding.’
- Therapeutics – Red: ‘Mutations suggestive of reduced effectiveness of a treatment in UK clinical use. The mutations present are likely to reduce the binding of most available therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, based on structural modelling.’
UKHSA chief executive Dr Jenny Harries said: ‘Increased case detection through focused contact tracing has led to more cases of the Omicron variant being identified and confirmed, as we have seen in other countries globally.
‘We are continuing to monitor the data closely. Teams nationally and locally are working at pace to identify and trace all close contacts of every Omicron case.
‘It is critical that anyone with Covid-19 symptoms isolates and gets a PCR test immediately.
‘We have started to see cases where there are no links to travel, suggesting that we have a small amount of community transmission.
‘That’s why it’s so important that everybody, everywhere, takes simple steps to protect themselves from infection.
‘Please wear face coverings in line with government guidance, let in fresh air when mixing indoors and wash your hands regularly.
‘Vaccination is critical to help us bolster our defences against this new variant so please get your first, second, third or booster jab as soon as you are eligible to protect yourself, your families and your communities.’
It is understood that ministers are being privately urged by scientific advisers to tell people to work from home again until Christmas if they can, the Guardian reports.
The Government has halved the waiting time between doses in a bid to speed up the booster jab campaign to contain the spread of Omicron.
But technological hold-ups mean it could take another 10 days before the rollout fully gets off the ground.
At the latest meeting of the Sage group of scientific advisers, experts said there is no time to wait for more data on the strain.
Minutes from the meeting, published today, said: ‘Even if measures are introduced immediately, there may not be time to fully ascertain whether they are sufficient before decisions are needed on further action.
‘The situation could develop quickly over the coming weeks and decision-makers may need to act while there is still a high level of uncertainty including considering the potential need for stringent response measures.’
But during a visit to Oswestry, Shropshire ahead of an upcoming by-election, Boris Johnson reiterated that Christmas would go ahead as ‘normally as possible’ this year. He added that people do not need to cancel their office parties or nativity plays.
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