Early UK data points to milder wave from Omicron

Data collected in one of the first areas to suffer a cluster of cases of the Omicron variant showed that hospitalisations have not surged in line with the spread.

The figures, which were collected by the Wellcome Sanger Institute, showed that Brackley in Northamptonshire had experienced 926 Omicron cases per 100,000 people – the highest in the country.

However, according to the Telegraph, the hospital admission rate at Northampton General Hospital NHS trust is not experiencing a similar surge.

Its rolling admissions rate on December 12 was around 11 per cent of the peak experienced in January – matching the trend of high cases but low admissions seen in South Africa.