Omicron: NHS raises alert to highest level as new variant takes over UK

With the total amount of Omicron cases nearing the 5,000 mark, the NHS has decided to raise its alert level once more as it braces itself for what's to come.

Omicron expected to become the dominant COVID variant

The UK's Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, has revealed that the Omicron variant will soon be the dominant strain that could infect hundreds of thousand more before the end of the month. In a statement, they said:

While Omicron represents over 20% of cases in England, we’ve already seen it rise to over 44% in London and we expect it to become the dominant Covid 19 variant in the capital in the next 48 hours.

Now, officials are fearing this could soon overwhelm hospitals and force health experts to have to put non-COVID-related patients on the back burner to address the severity of the spread of the virus instead.

Boosters are the UK's most efficient ammunition

With the move from the NHS also comes Boris Johnson's plan to get as many over 18s jabbed with a booster vaccine to try to contain the influx of cases as much as possible. As it stands currently, health officials believe the best line of defence to offer Brits is the booster shot. Johnson explained that:

Sadly yes Omicron is producing hospitalisations and sadly at least one patient has been confirmed to have died with Omicron.

And added:

So I think the idea that this is somehow a milder version of the virus, I think that's something we need to set on one side and just recognise the sheer pace at which it accelerates through the population. So the best thing we can do is all get our boosters.