PEOPLE in the UK should “continue with Christmas” in a “cautious way”, according to Government minister Steve Barclay.
His call for caution comes after 91,743 positive Covid-19 tests were reported in the UK yesterday.
987 of these were in Somerset amid week-on-week rises in the county's six districts.
The latest daily Omicron figures show there have now been 45,145 confirmed cases of the variant in the UK.
This shows an increase of 8,044 from the previous day’s figure for confirmed Omicron cases.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Mr Barclay told LBC this morning: “We are saying to people that they should continue with Christmas but do so in a cautious way. That is what I will be doing with my own family.
“We can all protect our families and friends by having the booster.”
Mr Barclay also said he expects the Government will “say more” about its discussions with business leaders calling for more financial support later today.
He said: “The Chancellor was talking to industry leaders about this very issue last night. We will say more about this later today.
“We recognise obviously we are keen to keep businesses open and businesses should continue to plan for the bookings they have.
“We absolutely recognise that through Plan B and the behaviour change there has been an impact on those bookings.”
He also confirmed the Government will “look closely at the data” about whether or not to have a circuit-breaker lockdown after Christmas.
“We are looking closely at the data, there is much we still don’t know about the severity of Omicron, how it leads to hospital admissions,” he said.
“We are looking particularly at the London data, there is a higher prevalence of Omicron particularly in London.”
His comments came as the World Health Organisation (WHO) said lockdowns can be effective – but also have negative consequences on people and businesses.
Dr Margaret Harris, a WHO public health doctor, said: “We prefer not to see lockdowns, a big lockdown, because they have huge economic implications, they have very severe social implications and mental health implications.
“However, they do work. So governments do get to a point when the hospitals are overwhelmed, where they run out of options.”
According to the latest data from the UK Health Security Agency, there have been 41,250 confirmed Omicron cases in England, compared to 2,349 in Northern Ireland, 1,111 in Scotland, and 435 in Wales.
These figures were published yesterday and cover the period up to 6pm on Sunday, December 19.
The data shows there have been 3,346 confirmed Omicron cases in the south west, showing a rise of 772 cases from the previous report published on Sunday.
The region with the highest number of confirmed Omicron cases is London with 12,221, followed by the south east (8,584) and the East Midlands (5,848).
What is the situation in Somerset?
The overall number of positive coronavirus tests reported rose in the county's six districts in the last seven days.
The largest percentage increase in positive test results was in Somerset West and Taunton (20%), while the smallest increase was in Mendip (0.9%).
987 positive test results were reported in Somerset yesterday.
Bath and North East Somerset had the highest number of positive tests (257), followed by North Somerset (239), and South Somerset (162).
Between Tuesday, December 14 and Monday, December 20, a total of 11 people died in Somerset within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test.
Case rates
In the seven days to December 15, Somerset's coronavirus case rate was 519.6 per 100,000 people.
The case rate for the UK over the same period was 716.1 per 100,000 people.
The case rates in Somerset's districts were:
Mendip: 658.7 per 100,000 people
Sedgemoor: 568.7 per 100,000 people
North Somerset: 568.3 per 100,000 people
Bath and North East Somerset: 567.3 per 100,000 people
South Somerset: 524.0 per 100,000 people
Somerset West and Taunton: 371.9 per 100,000 people
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