COVID-19: Boris Johnson slams people who think 'pandemic is over', warns against Omicron

As the daily cases of Omicron are rising in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cautioned everyone by saying that it would be "absolute folly" to think the COVID-19 pandemic is over, even though the ‘highly mutated’ coronavirus strain seems to be 'milder' than other variants.

At an Aylesbury vaccination center, the British Prime Minister said, “My view is that all the evidence (shows) Omicron is much milder, considerably milder than previous variants,” Sky News reported.  

Despite the sharp surge in COVID-19 infections in recent weeks, Johnson claimed that the UK is better prepared than most of the other nations because of its very high level of inoculation. Even though he believes that Omicron is "plainly milder" than earlier strains, he asserts that the NHS is underneath a lot of pressure as a result of its high transmissibility, and urged the British citizens to do all possible things by adopting plan B steps to alleviate the stress. 

'It would be absolute folly to say that this thing is all over': Boris Johnson

“I think this is what I would say to everybody, looking at the pressures on the NHS in the next couple of weeks and maybe longer...it would be absolute folly to say that this thing is all over now bar the shouting,” citing the British PM, Sky News reported.

Johnson went on to say that although Omicron is causing fewer Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions than previous variants, yet, the majority of patients admitted in the UK hospitals with COVID have not obtained their booster shot. As per media reports, over 59% of the eligible population has received the COVID booster doses. 

In addition to this, the remarks of the Prime Minister came after Chris Hopson, the chief of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, informed Sky News that the NHS is currently handling three issues at the same time, which include the soaring COVID hospital instances, COVID-related staff absences, and an already overburdened NHS and social care system. 

Furthermore, Hopson also added that a "serious" national discussion about improved funding in the NHS is needed, however, the decrease in the isolation period for individuals who test positive from ten to seven days is "already having" a beneficial impact on staff shortages. 

UK's COVID tally

On Monday, there were 157,758 new coronavirus cases recorded in England and Scotland, with figures from Wales as well as Northern Ireland to be released following the holiday weekend. In England, 42 fatalities were recorded within 28 days following a positive COVID-19 test. As per Worldometers, over 13,422,815 individuals have been affected by the disease in the nation since the outbreak, and more than 148,893 people have lost their lives due to Coronavirus. 

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