Ministers have reportedly pushed back against calls from scientific advisers for new measures to tackle the Omicron variant before Christmas. Confirmed cases of the faster-spreading strain have risen by more than 12,000 in the UK – and London’s cases alone topped 10,000, according to the latest data on Sunday. Mr Johnson has been presented with three options to tackle the spread of the virus, according to the Daily Telegraph. London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan warned that if restrictions are not brought in soon the NHS could be “on the verge of collapse”, with sickness affecting workforce levels. A further 12,133 confirmed cases of the variant had been reported across the UK, the data on Sunday showed, bringing the total confirmed cases of Omicron across the four nations to 37,101.

Source: The Times December 20, 2021 00:08 UTC