Britain hikes virus alert level as Omicron variant surges

The British government raised the country’s official coronavirus threat level on Sunday, warning the rapid spread of the Omicron variant had pushed the UK into risky territory.

The chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said the emergence of the highly transmissible new strain “adds additional and rapidly increasing risk to the public and health care services” at a time when Covid-19 is already widespread. They recommended raising the alert level from 3 to 4 on a 5-point scale.

The doctors said early evidence shows Omicron is spreading much faster than the currently dominant Delta variant, and that vaccines offer less protection against it. British officials say Omicron is likely to replace Delta as the dominant strain in the UK within days.

“Data on severity will become clearer over the coming weeks but hospitalisations from Omicron are already occurring and these are likely to increase rapidly,” they said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was due to make a televised statement about Britain’s coronavirus situation and the booster vaccination campaign on Sunday evening.