Covid-19: in the United Kingdom, hospitals will come under "considerable" pressure, warns Boris Johnson

A variant a priori less virulent, but not without consequences.

Hospitals will be under "considerable" pressure in the coming weeks in the UK due to a meteoric spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, however excluding further restrictions.

"We have to recognize that the pressure on our (public health service) NHS, on our hospitals, is going to be considerable over the next two weeks, and possibly more," the Tory leader said on the sidelines of the visit. a vaccination center in England.

“There is no doubt that Omicron continues to sweep across the country,” he added, but it is “clearly less virulent” than other variants like Alpha and Delta.

No new restrictions

The United Kingdom, one of the most affected countries with nearly 149,000 deaths from the pandemic, is facing an explosion of contaminations (more than 137,000 cases in England and Wales on Sunday) attributed to Omicron.

Read also Omicron: an outbreak of cases but few serious forms, what we learn from the epidemic in London

Boris Johnson has however ruled out for the time being imposing new restrictions in addition to teleworking and wearing the mask already in place, relying on screening and a massive vaccine booster campaign which, according to him, has allowed administer an additional dose to 76% of adults.

"The combination of things we are doing at the moment is, I think, the right one," he said, also faced with the opposition of part of his majority to a turn of the sanitary screw.

“The majority of people who are in intensive care have unfortunately not been vaccinated, and the vast majority, around 90%, have not had a booster dose,” he added, calling again population to be vaccinated.

Towards an extension of teleworking

To counter Omicron, however, the government has decided to recommend the wearing of masks in class for high school students as of this week.

The Daily Telegraph also indicated on Saturday that it could extend the recommendation to work from home, in effect since mid-December, to January.

Read also Covid-19: South Africa crossed the Omicron wave without an explosion in mortality

In addition to the increase in hospitalizations, the health service is faced with absences by thousands of healthcare workers in isolation because they are infected with the coronavirus or contact cases.

These contaminations disrupt many sectors such as transport or firefighters, and raise fears for teachers with the return to school.