CASE LOAD
UK Covid cases breach 200,000 for first time but should ‘start to fall next week’
DAILY Covid cases have tipped over 200,000 for the first time in the UK - but an expert said they should start to fall next week.
In the past 24 hours 48 new deaths were reported, with 218,724 more infections on from yesterday.
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Today's data is inflated because it includes extra cases and death that went unreported from Northern Ireland and Wales, due to the bank holiday.
It comes as Professor Neil Ferguson said he thinks cases will start to drop in the next week, following the increase.
While infections have risen quickly in the past weeks, a string of positive studies show Omicron is milder than other strains, with data revealing the risk of hospitalisation is 50 to 70 per cent lower than with Delta.
Covid booster jabs protect against Omicron and offer the best chance to get through the pandemic, health officials have repeatedly said.
The Sun's Jabs Army campaign is helping get the vital extra vaccines in Brits' arms to ward off the need for any new restrictions and protect the NHS.
This morning Prof Ferguson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think I’m cautiously optimistic that infection rates in London in that key 18 to 50 age group - which has been driving the Omicron epidemic - may possibly have plateaued.
“It’s too early to say whether they’re going down yet, but I think... this epidemic has spread so quickly in that group it hasn’t had time to really spread into the older age groups, which are at much greater risk of severe outcomes and hospitalisation, so we may see a different pattern in hospitalisations.
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“Hospitalisations are still generally going up across the country and we may see high levels for some weeks.
“I would say that, with an epidemic which has been spreading so quickly and reaching such high numbers, it can’t sustain those numbers forever, so we would expect to see case numbers start to come down in the next week, maybe already coming down in London, but in other regions a week to three weeks.
“Whether they then drop precipitously, or we see a pattern a bit like we saw with Delta back in July of an initial drop and then quite a high plateau, remains to be seen.
“It’s just too difficult to interpret current mixing trends and what the effect of opening schools again will be.”
Almost 29 million people have had their booster in England, including over 260,000 people who were ‘boosted’ over New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and January 2.
But the NHS has said there are still plenty of appointments for those who have not yet been able to come forward, perhaps because they may have had Covid.
As of this morning, there were almost 300,000 slots still available tomorrow, with 175,000 booked and a further 330,000 up for grabs on Thursday.
The PM dubbed it "absolutely crazy" that thousands of booster slots haven't been snapped up by Brits, warning that 90 per cent of people in ICUs haven't had their top up dose.
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In a No 10 briefing on the latest Omicron data Professor Sir Chris Whitty revealed in the week running up to Christmas one in 24 people had Covid in the UK - around two million.
He said just under 15,000 people are in hospital with Covid at the moment, but added the positive news that mortality rate has not increased with the variant.
Boris Johnson told the nation "Omicron is milder" with booster protection, but added: "Previous waves of the pandemic didn't have a single day without more than 100k a day reported.
"The latest figure today is another 218,000 - so anyone who thinks our battle with Covid is over, is profoundly wrong. This is the moment for utmost caution."
But the PM struck a hopeful tone saying "we have a chance to ride out this Omicron wave without shutting down our country once again" thanks to boosters - as he urged everyone to get theirs.
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Yesterday a vaccines chief handed Brits another shot in the arm - as he said the worst days of the Covid crisis are "absolutely behind us".
Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, the chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), says society must soon reopen fully.
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Meanwhile, hospital admissions are finally dropping in London for the first time since the mutation emerged.
And a top expert says she believes life could be back to normal in just 60 days as cases peak.
We must open up – we can’t jab the whole planet every 6 months, says UK vaccine boss
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