Boris Johnson has said the UK is making “great progress” in tackling Omicron – but warned the variant remains “incredibly contagious”.
Speaking following a pharmacy visit, the prime minister said 36 million people have now received the booster jab and are more protected from Omicron, but acknowledged that the number of people in hospital with COVID is “massively up” and “increasing”.
Mr Johnson also confirmed that ministers are considering reducing the self-isolation period for fully vaccinated people who test positive for the virus.
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Calls to shorten isolation period
His comments come as the PM faces growing pressure from some of his own Conservative MPs to reduce the isolation period to five days from the current seven.
Asked if changes could be made to both the government’s isolation and lateral flow testing policies in the coming weeks, he reiterated his call for people who have not already done so to “join the movement” and get a vaccination.
“We’re making great progress – the number of people who have been boosted, as I say, is 36 million, 90% of the over-50s have been done – but there are still millions who need to do it,” he said.
The prime minister also noted that “Omicron is still out there and is incredibly dangerous”.
Pressed on whether the isolation period should be cut, Mr Johnson added: “The thing to do is to look at the science. We are looking at that, and we will act according to the science.”
The PM’s official spokesperson later said “of course as the prime minister said, if it is possible to go further then we will do so”, adding: “If it is possible to go further, we’d want to act quickly but it needs to be based on the latest evidence and that work is still ongoing. We certainly haven’t received any further…
Source : skynews
