Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said on Monday that twelve people infected with the Omicron version of COVID-19 have died and 104 are hospitalized in the United Kingdom, as new restrictions brace for a wave of infections. “If we look at Omicron, we know it’s spreading very quickly. We currently have 104 hospitalizations from Omicron, we’ve had 12 deaths. But there’s a time lag in terms of data so we can’t really I don’t know how serious this is going to be,” said Mr Raab, who is also Justice Minister, on Times Radio.

“The only thing we know is that those receiving booster injections benefit from more than 70% effective protection,” he said, justifying the acceleration of the vaccine booster campaign decided by the government eight days ago. Nearly half of people over 12 have received a booster or third dose of the COVID vaccine in the UK, affected by a sharp increase in the number of cases attributed to the Omicron variant (+82,886 recorded in 24 hours on Sunday). The country is one of the worst-hit by the pandemic in Europe, with more than 147,000 dead.

Faced with this outbreak of cases, Boris Johnson voted for new restrictions, including the introduction of a health pass to mask parts inside public places (except pubs and restaurants) and to enter health clubs. Attend nights or big events. But a section of his conservative camp, which was considered moderate, opposed these new measures. Boris Johnson finds himself torn between his scientific advisers, who ask him to act as quickly as possible to slow down Omicron and some of his ministers, who are slowing down the implementation of further measures. According to The Times, nearly a third of its ministers, including Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, oppose the new restrictions. On Sunday, Health Minister Sajid Javid did not rule out setting new rules until Christmas, explaining that “nothing is guaranteed during this pandemic”.

Any reproduction prohibited