The UK’s Covid alert level has been raised, indicating substantial pressure on the NHS, amid concerns over the rapid increase in Omicron cases and a warning that the health service is “on its knees”. The decision to move from level 3 to 4 was taken on Sunday on the recommendation of the UK chief medical officers and NHS England’s national medical director. They said: “The emergence of Omicron adds additional and rapidly increasing risk to the public and healthcare services. The alert level was moved down from level 4 to level 3 in May. They are also worried that this is occurring before the traditional January winter peak and at a time when they don’t yet know what extra Covid caseload will come from Omicron.

Source: The Guardian December 13, 2021 01:55 UTC