SAJID JAVID will provide an update on the Omicron coronavirus variant surging across the UK this afternoon amid fears current measures are failing to contain the spread.
The Health Secretary’s update comes after 86 new cases of the mutation were found yesterday, taking the total figure to 246.
Total cases increased by more than 50 percent between Saturday and Sunday.
Scientists worry the speed at which the variant is spreading could soon see it become the dominant strain in Britain.
There is still little known about the strain with scientists in a race against time to find out more about the mutation.
Early evidence suggests it has the ability to infect those who have been double jabbed, but it is still unclear whether the strain is more deadly.
Mr Javid will make a statement in the Commons at approximately 5.30pm.
He is expected to update MPs on the extra steps the Government took over the weekend to help try and stop the variant from reaching the UK.
On Saturday ministers announced pre-departure tests would be required for people travelling to the UK.
Nigeria was also added to the red list at 4am on Monday, and arrivals from the African country must now spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel.
It joined a number of other African countries that were placed on the list 10 days ago.
However, Professor Mark Woolhouse, who is a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M) which advises the Government, warned yesterday he does not believe the extra measures will do enough to stop Omicron.
He said the variant is already “spreading pretty rapidly” and the new travel measures “may be a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted”.
Speaking this morning, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was confident the Government was doing what is necessary to protect Britons from the virus.
He said: “We were the first country in the world to take decisive measures to tackle Omicron.
“We put about 10 countries automatically, immediately, on to the red list and we said that anybody coming from any country in the world would have to quarantine for a couple of days.
“We’re now going further and toughening those measures up as we see the spread of Omicron around the world.”
Mr Johnson added he was “still waiting to see exactly how dangerous” the mutation was and that scientists are investigating “what sort of effect it has in terms of deaths and hospitalisations”.
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