Two people in the UK are confirmed to have been infected with the new Omicron coronavirus variant, the Health Secretary has announced.
Sajid Javid said on Saturday that the UK Health Security Agency had detected two cases of the variant – in Chelmsford and in Nottingham. The cases are said to be linked and the two people and their households are self-isolating.
Work is now taking place to trace any contacts of the infected individuals. Additional targeted testing is also being rolled out to Nottingham and Chelmsford.
In a tweet, Mr Javid also confirmed that Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Angola would be added to the UK’s travel red list from 4am on Sunday.
The new variant of the virus was first identified in South Africa, with there are also now confirmed cases of the variant in Botswana, Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium.
