Exclusive: UK already experiencing ‘very explosive wave of infection’ from new variant, top scientist says
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The Omicron variant has the potential to “very substantially overwhelm the NHS” and cause up to 10,000 hospitalisations a day if it is as virulent as Delta, according to a leading scientist who helped shape Britain’s coronavirus lockdown strategy.
Prof Neil Ferguson, a mathematical epidemiologist from Imperial College London, said the UK was already experiencing a “very explosive wave of infection” from the new variant. This could lead to “quite an explosive wave of hospitalisations,” depending on the severity of disease caused by Omicron.
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