{"id":121170,"date":"2021-12-14T16:07:51","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T23:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=121170"},"modified":"2021-12-14T16:07:51","modified_gmt":"2021-12-14T23:07:51","slug":"omicron-accounts-for-20-of-covid-cases-in-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/12\/14\/omicron-accounts-for-20-of-covid-cases-in-england\/","title":{"rendered":"Omicron accounts for 20% of Covid cases in England"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy BBC<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
  1. Health Secretary Sajid Javid tells MPs Omicron represents 20% of Covid cases in England<\/li>
  2. Hospitalisations and deaths, he adds, are expected to “dramatically increase” in the next few weeks<\/li>
  3. In response, England and Scotland have set new targets to give boosters to all eligible adults who want one by the end of the month<\/li>
  4. There have been long queues at walk-in vaccination sites and the NHS booking site has experienced technical problems due to demand<\/li>
  5. Free lateral flow tests appear to have run out for people to order online but Boris Johnson says there are “ample supplies” in pharmacies<\/li>
  6. One person in the UK has died with the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the PM earlier confirmed<\/li>
  7. Labour leader Keir Starmer will deliver a pre-recorded address at 19:00 GMT tonight on BBC One, responding to the prime minister’s message last night<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n