UPDATE - UK sees 1st death from COVID omicron variant

ADDS COMMENTS BY HEALTH SECRETARY

By Zehra Nur Duz and Muhammad Mussa

ANKARA (AA) – At least one patient infected with the COVID-19 omicron variant has died in the UK, Britain’s prime minister confirmed Monday.

"Sadly, yes, omicron is producing hospitalizations, and sadly at least one patient has been confirmed to have died with omicron," Boris Johnson said, speaking at a vaccine center in Paddington, west London.

Urging people to set aside “the idea that this is somehow a milder version of the virus,” Johnson stressed “the sheer pace at which it accelerates through the population. So the best thing we can do is all get our boosters.”

“Here in the capital it probably represents about 40% of the cases. By tomorrow it’ll be the majority of the cases and it’s increasing the whole time,” he added.

Last week Health Minister Sajid Javid said omicron is spreading much faster than other variants, adding that at the current trajectory omicron cases in the country could surpass 1 million by the end of December.

The UK on Sunday raised its COVID-19 alert level to Level 4 – its second-highest level – amid a surge in cases of the omicron variant.

Level 4, according to the government’s guidance, means "a COVID-19 epidemic is in general circulation; transmission is high and direct COVID-19 pressure on health care services is widespread and substantial or rising.”

The country had been at Level 3 since May.

To date the UK has reported 3,137 cases of the new variant.

The UK has recorded over 10.8 million cases and more than 146,400 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

- Prevalence of omicron could mean eased travel rules

Later, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the omicron variant currently makes up 20% of cases in England and that its spread means strict travel rules for arrivals could be eased.

“Given that we already know that the omicron variant is fast becoming the dominant variant in our capital city, spreading rapidly throughout the country, the justification for having those rules is minimized,” Javid said in a statement in parliament.

“It’s something that I’ve already raised with my colleagues in the Department for Transport and I do hope that we can act quickly,” he added.

His statement came in response to opposition Labour MP Ben Bradshaw’s call for the end to “very draconian, costly and complex” travel rules that have recently been introduced to stop the spread of the new variant.