The latest Government figures show a further 106,122 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases have been recorded in the UK as of 9am on Wednesday.
The Government said a further 140 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
Figures from NHS England show that 1,904 people were in hospital in London with Covid-19 as of December 21, the highest number since March 2 and up 41% from a week earlier.
Across England, 6,902 patients were in hospital with Covid-19 on December 21 – the highest number since November 10 and up 7% week-on-week.
On Wednesday night, Northern Ireland deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said nightclubs will be closed from December 26.
Prof Ferguson said: “Our analysis shows evidence of a moderate reduction in the risk of hospitalisation associated with the Omicron variant compared with the Delta variant.
“However, this appears to be offset by the reduced efficacy of vaccines against infection with the Omicron variant.
“Given the high transmissibility of the Omicron virus, there remains the potential for health services to face increasing demand if Omicron cases continue to grow at the rate that has been seen in recent weeks.”
Pearson
With this in mind, Allison Pearson wrote an opinion piece in the Telegraph with the headline “My cheering Christmas message? It’s time for humanity to prevail over scientists.”
The subheading reads” ‘We are jabbed up to the gills as a nation, but many of us have regretfully curtailed our festive plans thanks to the misery guts on Sage.”
Well as you can expect this story has not gone down with many people, still fearful of the spread of Covid.
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Well at least one person really liked it…
Related: ‘A prime minister in tatters’: European press savages Boris Johnson