First death from Omicron COVID-19 variant confirmed in the UK

New Delhi: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said one person infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus had died, BBC reported. Boris Johnson said the Omicron variant was also resulting in hospital admissions and urged people to get their booster shots for protection.

Speaking to reporters, Boris Johnson said, "Omicron is producing hospitalisations and sadly at least one patient has been confirmed to have died with Omicron. 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."

Boris Johnson said that Omicron now accounts for 40 per cent of all coronavirus cases in London. UK is witnessing the most rapid spread of the Omicron variant as compared to anywhere in the world.

On Sunday, the PM set a new target for all adults in England to be offered a booster by the end of December.

Boris Johnson warned of a tidal wave of the highly transmissible variant, syaing two doses of vaccine "are simply not enough to give the level of protection we need".

"The good news is that our scientists are confident that with a third dose a booster dose we can all bring our level of protection back up," Johnson said in a televised address.

The WHO noted that the Omicron variant had spread to 63 countries as of December 9. On Sunday, 1,239 new cases of Omicron were detected in the UK, bringing the total number of Omicron cases to more than 3,000.

The UK's Covid-19 alert level has been raised to level four, meaning a high or rising level of transmission for the first time since May due to the spread of Omicron.

A new study by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and South Africa's Stellenbosch University has warned that the UK might see between 25,000 and 75,000 deaths due to the Omicron variant by April next year.