WORK from home advice should return to stop the spread of Omicron, government advisors have warned.
Documents from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said the highly evolved strain could spark a new wave of cases – and it could be even bigger than previous waves.
Another 75 cases of Omicron have been confirmed in England, taking the total for England to 104 and for the UK as a whole to 134 – including the first confirmed case in Wales.
And more than half of the Omicron cases in England are among Brits who are double vaccinated, health officials have revealed.
SAGE and subgroup Nervtag have called for the introduction of vaccine passports and work from home guidance to curb the spread of the variant.
According to a note released by the government advisory group last night, the scientists concluded the variant would be able to set off a new wave of infections.
“We cannot exclude that this wave would be of a magnitude similar, or even larger, than previous waves,” they said.
“It is important to be prepared for a potentially very significant wave of infections with associated hospitalisations now, ahead of data being available.”
They added: “A large wave of infections will be accompanied by a wave of severe cases and the subgroup cannot rule out that this may be sufficient to overwhelm NHS capacity.”
SAGE said remote working and the return of face coverings in all indoor public settings remained a “highly relevant” way of countering the spread of the variant.
Working from home is part of the government’s “Plan B” – which also includes vaccine passports.
Neither have been implemented to control the virus, but face masks became mandatory from Tuesday in response to Omicron.
The government advisors warned the situation “could develop quickly over the coming weeks” and said ministers “may need to act while there is still a high level of uncertainty”.
People have been told to work from home where possible in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
But Boris Johnson has rejected suggestions to reimpose the rules in England – which ended on Freedom Day earlier this year after Brits worked from home for months.
Professor Adam Finn, a member of the government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, has recommended Brits return to working from home.
“The more people can work from home now the better, until we are more definite about what’s going to happen,” Prof Finn told The Guardian.
‘WE NEED TO BUY TIME’
The University of Bristol expert added: “We need to buy time. If in three weeks it’s died out, then fine, we can all relax, but right now is the time when you could prevent there being a big wave.”
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, from the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, University of Cambridge, said the measure could still be used in England – even though ministers have not alluded to it yet.
He said there are “huge uncertainties” around the super-strain Omicron, which is feared to be both faster spreading and better at escaping vaccine protection.
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “The standard thing to do when you’re faced with really quite deep uncertainties is to be cautious. The precautionary principle is rational.”
Also recommending working from home, SAGE member Professor Susan Michie told the i: “If you wait until we’ve got certainty you’ve lost it. You need to act quickly, you need to act hard and you need to act before you actually need to act.”
But on Monday the Prime Minister’s spokesman said it was up to employers to decide on the “right balance” for them, when it came to whether staff worked from home or the office.
SAGE said there is currently insufficient data to make any conclusions on the severity of disease associated with the new variant.
But the minutes of the meeting, held on Monday, said it is highly likely Omicron can escape immunity to some extent – but it is not yet clear how much.
The scientists warned: “Even if there continues to be good protection against severe disease for individuals from vaccination (including boosters), any significant reduction in protection against infection could still result in a very large wave of infections.
“This would in turn lead to potentially high numbers of hospitalisations even with protection against severe disease being less affected.
“The size of this wave remains highly uncertain but may be of a scale that requires very stringent response measures to avoid unsustainable pressure on the NHS.
“If vaccine efficacy is substantially reduced, then a wave of severe disease should be expected.”
It comes after a risk assessment by the UK Health Security Agency rated Omicron as “red” for severity of infection and “amber” for transmissibility.
But it still said there was “insufficient data” to reach any firm conclusions and the assessment was presented with “low confidence”.
COMMUNITY SPREAD
Government advisors have already warned Covid could ruin Christmas celebrations for the “next five years” until it settles in an endemic state.
But Mr Johnson said Christmas parties should continue to go ahead – after comments from top expert Dr Jenny Harries that Brits should start to cut their social contacts.
In government papers, experts said caution should be taken during festive gatherings and that the R rate could reach 1.4 by the end of December.
There is already evidence Omicron is spreading within the community, as opposed to only being seen in travellers who have returned from south African nations or their contacts.
The tenth case of the Omicron variant of coronavirus identified in Scotland has no direct link to the previous nine which were connected to one event, the Scottish Government has said.
On Friday, the UK Health Security Agency cases had now been detected in the East Midlands, East of England, London, North East, North West, South East, South West and West Midlands.
The government has extended its booster campaign to 18-39 year-olds in order to get on the front foot of Omicron infections and to give Brits as much protection as possible.
Brits aged 40 and over, or those who have serious health conditions can book their vaccines through the national booking service, while people 18 and over will have to wait for the NHS to call them forward for their jabs.
