UK Has Community Transmission Of Omicron Variant, Says Health Minister
NDTV
The number of hotel rooms available for international quarantine will be doubled this week and the government is "ramping up this capacity as quickly as possible", said UK Health Minister Sajid Javid.
Britain's Health Minister said on Monday there is now community transmission of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus across regions of England but it is too early to say if this will "knock us off our road to recovery".
Defending the introduction of stricter rules to slow the spread of the virus, Sajid Javid told parliament the government was "leaving nothing to chance" while scientists assessed the variant, which was first reported in South Africa last month.
Javid said there are now 261 Omicron cases in England, 71 in Scotland and four in Wales - a total of 336.
"This includes cases with no links to international travel, so we can conclude there is now community transmission across multiple regions of England," Javid said.
