Sixty-eight of these were discovered in England and the other 18 in Scotland, where there are now 48 confirmed cases in total, the UK Health Security Agency said.
The latest figures come as a leading scientist from South Africa, one of the countries where the new variant of coronavirus was first detected, said that travel bans and pre-departure tests would do nothing to stop the spread of omicron in the UK. And a member of the government’s scientific advisory panel, Sage, said that measures announced on Saturday by Sajid Javid, which are set to be imposed at 4am tomorrow, were “shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted”.
Community transmission is already underway in the UK, and can be expected to “drive the next wave” and see cases rise from hundreds to thousands regardless of travel restrictions, said epidemiologist Professor Mark Woolhouse of the University of Edinburgh. The director of the Africa Health Research Institute, Professor Willem Hanekom, told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday he was “completely aligned” with the view of many South Africans that the rest of the world was panicking unnecessarily about the emergence of the omicron variant, which is believed to be more contagious than previous strains of Covid-19.
Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin December 06, 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin December 06, 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
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