Warning signs remain over Omicron – but so does some hope

The mixing of young and old over Christmas is expected to make matters far worse in the coming days and weeks, yet the current situation is not a repeat of last winter’s horrors, writes Samuel Lovett

The data could change now that the virus has been brought back from the younger, urban centres into the homes of parents and grandparents (Getty)

Christmas may have passed, bringing together hundreds of thousands of infected people across the country, but the picture around Omicron remains just as mixed.

The latest NHS data shows that the seven-day hospital admission rate rose across six out of seven English regions in the week up to 24 December, with London reporting the largest increase, at 62 per cent.

Covid bed occupancy rates are also up. Across England, a total of 8,474 patients were in hospital with the disease on 27 December, compared to 6,688 a week before – a 27 per cent rise.