THE UK has seen an extra 88,447 Covid cases in the past 24 hours – a slight rise on yesterday’s numbers.
But as the country steadily makes its way out of Omicron’s grip, today’s new cases are a drop of 37 per cent from 142,000 cases a fortnight ago.
Official figures also showed 75 Brits died from the virus yesterday – but today 56 were added to the grim toll of Covid fatalities.
It comes after UK Covid figures almost halved in the past two weeks, with 74,799 people testing positive yesterday.
While Covid won’t be a mild illness for everyone, most people who have had the variant say it’s ‘just like a cold’.
A string of hugely positive studies show Omicron is milder than other strains in the vaccinated, with the first official UK report revealing the risk of hospitalisation is 50 to 70 per cent lower than with Delta.
Covid booster jabs protect against Omicron and offer the best chance to get through the pandemic, health officials have repeatedly said.
But even if you are vaccinated, you can still catch Covid and experts say there are five symptoms you could be missing – as they could be mistaken for something else.
Major Covid rule changes are coming in this week as Plan B is fully scrapped.
Restrictions that came back in last year have slowly been ebbing away – with working from home rules stopped last week.
Boris Johnson told the Commons last week cases and hospitalisations are falling and “our scientists believe it is likely the Omicron wave has now peaked nationally”.
He declared: “Because of the extraordinary booster campaign, together with the way the public have responded to the Plan B measures, we can return to Plan A in England and allow Plan B regulations to expire.”
Yesterday a World Health Organisation chief said the Covid pandemic may reach its “endgame” once Omicron subsides.
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Hans Kluge thinks there will soon be global immunity due to jabs and natural infection.
It comes after England became the first major country to announce an end to all Covid curbs.
Dr Kluge, European director of the World Health Organisation, said: “It’s plausible that (Europe) is moving towards a kind of pandemic endgame.
However Nicola Sturgeon yesterday warned masks could be worn in Scotland for years to come.
Speaking hours before the rules were relaxed today, the First Minister said the measures were worth it, in spite of opposition from business chiefs who labelled them “incredibly damaging”.
But she said face coverings may be enforced in public for many months to come as they’re “a small price to pay”.
In contrast, Boris Johnson has announced restrictions in England – including guidance on masks – will end by March. Plan B will be ditched as the Omicron wave recedes thanks to the UK’s world-beating booster roll-out.
