The U.K. reported a record number of new daily Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, with 78,610 in the last 24 hours according to a report from CNBC News. The figure was an increase from 59,610 the day before, and it surpasses the previous high of 68,053 cases reported on Jan. 8.
It underlines the dramatic surge in infections that the country is seeing ahead of the Christmas holiday period with the omicron variant expected to quickly become the dominant strain.
One senior British health chief has warned that there could be “staggering” numbers in the next few days. Long queues have been seen outside vaccination centers in many U.K. cities and towns with the government putting its booster program on overdrive to try to get a third vaccine shot to as many people as possible.
BBC News stated that speaking alongside Prof Whitty, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was “absolutely vital” that everyone gets a booster jab. He warned that in some areas the doubling rate for cases was now under two days, adding:
“I’m afraid we’re also seeing the inevitable increase in hospitalizations up by 10% nationally, week-on-week, and up by almost a third in London.” Prof Whitty said the country is experiencing two separate epidemics, one driven by the “very rapidly-growing” Omicron variant and the other by the Delta variant. “I’m afraid we have to be realistic that records will be broken a lot over the next few weeks as the rates continue to go up,” he added.
