A cyclist rides a bike past a sign for a 24-hour vaccination centre, in London (AFP)LONDON: The UK government is reportedly drawing up plans for a short two-week circuit breaker lockdown later this month, after Christmas, to try and keep pace with the rapidly spreading Omicron variant, media reports said on Saturday. The reports of further lockdown restrictions come as the UK recorded another highest daily total of 93,045 Covid-19 infections on Friday, up 4,669 cases from the previous record of 88,376 set on Thursday. While the Delta variant remains dominant in most parts of the country, Omicron has taken over in London and Scotland amid a massive surge. The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 in London has climbed to 1,534, up 28.6 per cent compared to last week. Meanwhile, half the adults in the UK have now had a Covid-19 booster dose after the programme was accelerated this week in the face of the Omicron variant, first detected in South Africa in November.

Source: The Times December 18, 2021 15:30 UTC