Amid the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, the United Kingdom on Friday, 17 December, reported a record high of cases for the third day in a row.
The UK reported 93,045 fresh cases on Friday, the highest single-day spike that the country has seen since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. A total of 111 deaths were recorded for the same day.
The surge has been attributed largely to the highly-transmissible Omicron variant, as well as the dominant Delta variant.
The British government has recorded 4,77,229 in the last seven days, a 38.6 percent hike from the previous week.
“Let's slow down Omicron's spread and reduce the harm Omicron can do to us by building up our vaccine defences. We are throwing everything at it and wherever you are we'll be there, with a jab, for you, so please, get boosted now," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at a press conference at Downing Street on Wednesday, reported news agency PTI.
Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, had indicated that a staggering hike in cases can be expected in the coming days.
"The numbers that we see on data over the next few days will be quite staggering compared to the rate of growth that we've seen in cases for previous variants," she was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.
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