Almost 900,000 people – one in 60 – had Covid on any given day in England last week

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Almost 900,000 people in England had Covid on any given day last week, official data suggested today as the outbreak continued to trend upwards. 

Office for National Statistics weekly surveillance — based on random swabs of 100,000 people — estimated 898,900 people were infected over the week to November 27, equivalent to one in 60 having the virus.

This was the highest number since early November, when 925,000 were estimated to be infected. It was about 200,000 infections off the record set at the peak of the second wave when 1.1million had Covid.

In another sign the country’s outbreak is growing No10’s top scientists said the R rate may now be above one for the first time since last month. They suggest it is between 0.9 and 1.1.

But Omicron is yet to gain a foothold in the UK, with ONS statisticians saying they saw no sign it was spreading in the community. The Delta variant was behind almost every case.

Tory party chairman Oliver Dowden today insisted people should ‘keep calm and carry on’ with their Christmas plans despite the variant, as Britain’s hospitality sector says it is being buffetted with cancellations.

Boris Johnson has urged businesses not to cancel office parties and to proceed with caution, after some ministers told people to either cancel, wear masks, take tests ir not snog strangers.

WHO officials suggest the variant may trigger less severe symptoms than the old virus — in what could be a promising sign it is not as dangerous as feared. But a top UK epidemiologist said today this may only be the case because many people already have a level of immunity against Covid. 

South Africa’s Covid cases are spiralling almost four-fold week-on-week as the Omicron variant takes hold in the country and spreads to every province.

The R rate — which measures the spread of the virus — in epicentre Gauteng has spiralled from one to more than three in recent weeks. For comparison, in the UK it has never surged above 1.6.

ONS statisticians take random swabs of 100,000 people every week to estimate the infection levels across the country. Their figures are seen as the gold-standard by ministers, because they can catch infections in hard to reach groups that would not normally get a Covid test.

They found Covid cases had risen four per cent compared to the previous seven-day spell, the second week in a row that infections have risen. 

Two to 11-year-olds were the only age group to see their cases rise, but they remained flat in all others. London, the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber saw their infections rise. 

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also saw their cases rise last week compared to the previous seven-day period. In Northern Ireland they ticked up by 10 per cent to 41,100 infections — equal to one in 45 —, in Scotland they rose by 9.7 per cent to 83,300 infections — one in 65 — and in Wales they rose by eight per cent to 64,100 — one in 45.

No10’s top scientists said the R rate had risen across England’s seven regions, and may now be above one in each of them in a sure sign the outbreak may be growing.

In the South East it was estimated to be between 1.0 and 1.2, while in the East and London it was between 0.9 and 1.2. The Midlands, the North East and North West were estimated to have R rates between 0.9 and 1.1. 

In a separate surveillance report published yesterday, the UK Health Security Agency said Covid cases were falling in every age group in England last week.

But it was based on 15 per cent fewer PCR and lateral flow tests than the previous seven-day spell, which may explain the drop.

And other estimates from King’s College London scientists said cases had risen five per cent in a week across the whole UK.

Mr Dowden today urged Britons to keep calm and carry on as concern mounts over the Omicron variant.

He Sky News: ‘The message to people, I think, is fairly straightforward – which is keep calm, carry on with your Christmas plans. We’ve put the necessary restrictions in place, but beyond that keep calm and carry on.

‘I understand that people have concerns around the new variant. That’s why the Government has taken the sort of measures that we’ve already outlined … we think those are sufficient at this stage and, beyond that, people should continue with their plans as intended.’

Amid confusion about what to do, many of Britain’s biggest employers including the NHS, banks and tech firms have axed festive bashes completely or taken them online. It is now said to be a 50/50 split.

Omicron is yet to gain a foothold in the UK, estimates suggest although scientists warn it will eventually hit the country. 

There are 42 cases spotted to date, and some are not linked to foreign travel suggesting it may already be spreading in the community. 

Scotland’s Omicron cases are linked to a Steps concert held in Glasgow, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said today as she confirmed community transmission of the variant. 

ONS head of analytical outpots for the survey Sarah Crofts, said: ‘We have not yet identified any infections compatible with the new Omicron variant in our survey. The Delta variant remains the most common across the UK.

‘We will continue to monitor for different variants among our survey participants as part of our work tracking the virus.’

Dozens of Christmas party-goers who became infected with suspected cases of Omicron Covid in Norway have only mild symptoms, doctors have revealed.

Up to 60 people who fell ill after attending a party on Oslo’s waterfront a week ago have so-far developed headaches and sore throats while a few have a cough.

Tine Ravlo, chief physician for the district where the outbreak took place, said the symptoms are broadly consistent with what is being reported from South Africa, where the variant first emerged.

But, he added, it is still too early to tell whether that makes Omicron more or less dangerous than Delta. All of the infected are young and all are believed to have been vaccinated – a combination that typically leads to milder symptoms.

Concrete data is yet to emerge confirming whether Omicron is more mild than the Delta variant, which is currently widespread.

The reproduction rate in the South African province at the epicentre of the Omicron outbreak has surged from below one to above three in less than a month, as the super-strain outpaces Delta at a ferocious pace.

Public Health officials in Guateng province estimate that the R value — a key measure used to gauge how fast a wave is growing — could be as high as 3.5. For comparison, the UK’s R rate has never been above 1.6.

The Omicron strain has triggered a meteoric rise in cases in South Africa, mostly concentrated in Guateng, since the country that first alerted the world about the highly-evolved virus on November 24.

Nationally, cases there soared to 11,535 on Thursday marking a 370 per cent rise in a week, and up a third on around 8,500 yesterday. It has become the dominant strain in the country in little over a week since it was officially discovered, making up 75 per cent of sequenced samples.

A pre-print from South Africa published yesterday found that the new strain is at least two-and-a-half times better at re-infecting people than all other variants.

This could explain why it’s spreading so fast in Guateng province, where up to 80 per cent have natural immunity, and not so fast in other countries where it has been detected like the UK for weeks. Only a quarter of South Africans are vaccinated, compared to around 70 per cent in the UK, US and Europe.

While Omicron’s infectiousness seems unquestionable, there is growing uncertainty about how well it can evade vaccines and how severe the illness it causes will be. The World Health Organization (WHO) today revealed zero deaths around the world have been caused by the new variant.

Public health experts in South Africa and the WHO have insisted cases are only mild and vaccines should still be highly effective against the strain, despite a lack of data.

But UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) epidemiologist Meaghan Kall warned that data currently suggests Omicron may be ‘worse’ than Delta — although the picture is still emerging.

She said she was ‘highly sceptical’ that the strain causes milder symptoms, saying infections may only appear less severe because people have immunity against other variants, unlike in the first wave.

UKHSA data published yesterday showed Covid cases fell in every age group in England last week and all regions except London despite fears the super-strain Omicron may already be spreading in the community.

Its surveillance report showed the sharpest declines were among the over-70s (down 29 per cent) and over-80s (22 per cent) where most people have received their boosters.

But infections dipped across the board including for under-40s who are yet to be offered a top-up dose, but have had much higher infection rates than older age groups.

Across England infections fell in every region except London, where they rose by two per cent, and in 116 of 149 local authorities or 78 per cent.

The number of lateral flow and PCR tests carried out tumbled 15 per cent, with 4.2million completed in the last seven days compared to 5million the week before.

Despite concerns over Omicron none of the 16 local authorities that have detected the mutant strain recorded a sudden spike in infections. In South Africa, where the strain has taken hold, cases are surging more than sixfold week-on-week.

UKHSA sources said there was still nothing to suggest that the variant was spreading in the community.

Separate data from a surveillance study yesterday showed symptomatic Covid cases in the UK rose by nearly five per cent to more than 80,000 per day last week.

The ZOE symptom-tracking study estimated that 80,483 people fell ill on any given day in the week ending November 27, based on test results from around 650,000 volunteers.

It marked a rise of 4.9 per cent compared to the estimate on the previous week and means one in 61 Britons suffered a symptomatic infection at any given time, King’s College London scientists who run the study said.

But infections started to fall in the over-55s, in a clear sign of the effect of booster vaccine doses — with more than 19million people now having had a third dose according to Government data.

No10 unveiled its new scheme to vaccinate all over-18s by the end of January on Tuesday, with the UK yesterday buying 114million more doses in an effort to stop the spread of the new supermutant Omicron variant.

Professor Tim Spector, the epidemiologist behind the ZOE study, warned the Omicron variant has ‘rudely awakened’ the UK to the pandemic and encouraged more volunteers to continue tracking their symptoms to help monitor the strain.

He said said: ‘Omicron has rudely awakened many countries, including the UK, from the slumber they had fallen into over Covid.

‘While we need more data to understand the risks this variant presents, I would advise the public not to panic, but remember that it’s important for everyone to be more cautious.’

Britain’s Covid cases are continuing to climb with more than 53,000 recorded yesterday, official Government data revealed amid fears that the Omicron variant could wreak havoc on Christmas plans.

UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) data shows there were 53,945 positive tests in the last 24 hours, up 14.2 per cent on the 47,240 recorded last Thursday and the most since July 17.

It was the second day in a row cases have increased week-on-week and only the second time in a week cases have breached the 50,000 mark.

There is no indication that the Omicron variant is behind the rise, with only 42 cases officially confirmed in the UK so far but there are signs that it could be spreading domestically.

Meanwhile, the number of people dying with the virus fell to 141, down 4.1 per cent on the 147 fatalities registered last week.

And hospitalisations also dropped, with 700 admissions recorded on Sunday, the latest date data is available for. It was down six per cent on the 745 seen the previous week.

Boris Johnson has urged Britons not to call off their Christmas parties after his government’s muddled messaging sparked a wave of festive cancellations and a super-spreader event in Norway infected up to 60 people out of 120 with Omicron. The Prime Minister received his booster shot live on TV before telling Sky News there was no reason for Britons to change their plans.