The Omicron variant was first named last November, shortly before it was designated a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation. What sets the variant apart from its predecessor is its inimitable capacity for transmission. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, Covid infections in the UK have climbed by one million in a week. Based on these figures, Doctor Chris warned as many as one in 15 people in the UK could be infected by the Omicron variant.
Doctor Chris Smith said: “The good thing is, that people who are catching it at the moment are catching a very mild dose of it. There are a number of reasons for that, but there are lots of them.
“We used to think we were catching about one in two cases via testing, we now think there are probably 10 times as many cases out there as there are tests that are saying it’s positive.
“Probably, about one person in every 15 across the country on average is currently infected.
“So if you pick the average busload of people, there’s probably one or two cases on there at the moment.”
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