London, Dec 16: Amid spread of Omicron cases, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and England’s Chief Medical Officer Prof Chris Whitty have urged people to be cautious while socialising before Christmas.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Johnson said he was not closing pubs and restaurants and advised people to “think carefully before you go”.
Meanwhile, Prof Chris Whitty asked people not to “mix with people you don’t have to”.
According to BBC report, the UK recorded 78,610 new Covid cases on Wednesday – the highest daily number reported since the start of the pandemic.
The chief medical officer warned people that more records will be made as the number of Omicron cases continue to surge.
BBC quoted Prof Whitty as saying the country was experiencing “two epidemics on top of one another”, one driven by the “very rapidly-growing” Omicron and the other by the Delta variant.
“I’m afraid we have to be realistic that records will be broken a lot over the next few weeks as the rates continue to go up,” he said.
He told the public “don’t mix with people you don’t have to” and also prioritise events and celebrations “that really matter to them”.
“Because otherwise the risk of someone getting infected at something that doesn’t really matter to them – and then not being able to do the things that matter to them – obviously goes up,” he added.
