Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on Monday, said that Britain is making headway against the Omicron variant and is considering reducing the isolation period to five days. He also noted that the number of hospitalised COVID-19 cases are increasing. "We're looking at it," he told Reuters when asked about reducing the seclusion period from seven to five days."We need to make sure we can see Omicron. We've made a lot of progress.” "However, the 18,000 people with COVID who are already in hospitals... that's hugely up, and the numbers are increasing," Johnson said, adding that possibly 30 per cent of those infected were in hospitals.
Secretary of State for Housing Michael Gove told the Guardian, “We are moving to a situation - we’re not there yet - but we are moving to a situation where it is possible to say that we can live with COVID-19 and that the pressure on the NHS and vital public services is abating.” Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi told Daily Mail that the reduction in the isolation period would ease staffing issues in schools.
The UK, in the last 24 hours, reported 141,472 new cases of COVID-19. "But it's absolutely vital to recognise that we are not there yet... there will be some difficult weeks ahead," Gove added
