Tougher restrictions needed to prevent thousands of deaths from Omicron, scientists say

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Tougher Covid restrictions may be needed to prevent Omicron causing anywhere between 25,000 to 75,000 deaths in England over the next five months, according to scientists advising the government.

Experts from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) say they used experimental data to look at how Omicron may transmit over the next few months.

But they have said that even under the most optimistic scenario, which would see a low immune escape of Omicron from vaccines and high effectiveness of booster jabs, a wave of infection is projected.

They estimate this could lead to a peak of more than 2,000 daily hospital admissions, with 175,000 hospital admissions and 24,700 deaths between December 1 this year and April 30, 2022. READ