Another 90 cases of Omicron COVID variant have been reported in Britain
December 7, 2021, 7:41 am

Another 90 cases of Omicron COVID variant have been reported in Britain

England-Thames river-London-Aerial View/Pixabay

The Xinhua reported that British health authorities confirmed Monday, a further 90 cases of the new Omicron COVID variant have been reported in Britain, taking the total to 336.

These include 64 new cases in England, 23 in Scotland and three in Wales. Northern Ireland has still not seen any confirmed Omicron cases.

Professor Paul Hunter, an expert in infectious diseases from the University of East Anglia, told the BBC the Omicron variant could start "outcompeting" the dominant Delta variant within weeks.

COVID time-Woman wearing mask/Pixabay

He said the new variant is "spreading rather more quickly than the Delta variant", while authorities in South Africa, where the mutation was first detected, have talked of a "rapid" increase in cases.

Britain registered 51,459 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 10,515,239, according to official figures released on Monday.

The country also reported a further 41 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 145,646. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

Nearly 89 percent of people aged 12 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and around 81 percent have received both doses, according to the latest figures. More than 35 percent have received booster jabs, or the third dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.

Source: xinhua

Rohingya refugees in UK and US sue Facebook for $150bn over hate speech British government announces 'largest ever increase' in funding for drug treatment

Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.