Sajid Javid was not 'transparent' about Omicron data says expert

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Professor Ravi Gupta, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) told Sky News that experts were learning about the virus “all the time”. The UK reported 91,743 cases of Covid on Monday, compared with 82,886 the day before.

An additional 44 COVID-related deaths have also been recorded in the latest 24 hour period, compared to 45 Sunday.

This time last week, 38 deaths and 54,661 new cases were reported.

Prof Gupta also warned that the rise in Omicron cases and related deaths was a “serious concern”.

He told Sky News: “The sheer numbers that are going to be affected because of the increased transmissibility of this virus is going to potentially overwhelm our health service.

He told Sky News: “The sheer numbers that are going to be affected because of the increased transmissibility of this virus is going to potentially overwhelm our health service.

“So that’s a really critical situation that we’re facing.”

He added: “Even if the vaccines protect us to a significant degree, then the increased transmissibility and penetration of the virus into communities that we’re seeing already is putting a large amount of pressure (on the NHS) because a very small fraction of a very large number still translates to significant numbers being hospitalised.”

Working as a professor of clinical microbiology at the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Dr Gupta further explained that Omicron has properties that have “surprised” scientists to some degree.

He said: “Some experiments that have been done in different groups are suggesting that the virus has kind of altered the way it infects cells.

“This is again potentially due to some mutations that have occurred, and there may, and this is a big caveat, there may be a slightly different profile for this virus [compared to Delta].

“Nonetheless, even if it were a little bit milder, in a very broad sense, the sheer numbers of cases would still translate into some individuals becoming quite sick.

“We’re not anticipating that this virus, because of these changes, is going to suddenly become harmless.

“I think that shouldn’t be the interpretation of the work that we and others are doing.

“But what we are saying is that we are learning about the virus all the time.”

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Prof Gupta said he is “in the middle viewpoint” about whether the Government should take tougher measures to tackle the rising case numbers of the variant.

He said: “My personal view is that I’m in the middle of the two sorts of views on this. I think the restrictions we’ve had were important.

“I think we could go further, but I’m not necessarily saying that a full lockdown is the essential policy decision, but, of course, I’m not the policy-maker and all I do is scientific research and advise accordingly.”

In Britain, 12 people infected with Omicron have died, while 104 people with the variant are in hospital, according to the latest figures from the UK Health Security Agency.

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