Third person infected with Omicron coronavirus variant in UK

They are said to have been in central London.

A third person infected with the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has been identified in the UK. The individual, who Sky News reports is no longer in the country, tested positive after travelling to Britain and is "linked to travel to southern Africa," Dr Jenny Harries, UKHSA chief executive, said: "Our advanced sequencing capabilities enable us to find variants and take rapid action to limit onward spread. It is very likely that we will find more cases over the coming days as we are seeing in other countries globally and as we increase case detection through focussed contact tracing. "We are continuing our efforts to understand the effect of this variant on transmissibility, severe disease, mortality, antibody response and vaccine efficacy. "It's critical that anyone with COVID-19 symptoms isolates and gets a PCR test immediately. "Vaccination is critical to help us bolster our defences against this new variant - please get your first, second or booster jab without delay. Wear a mask in crowded places, including public transport and shops, to ensure we all help break the chains of transmission and slow the spread of this new variant." Related links: Boris Johnson announces raft of new measures as two cases of Omicron variant detected in UK World races to contain new Covid variant now officially named Omicron Health secretary says there are ‘no guarantees’ around Christmas Earlier this week, Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed that two cases of the new variant had been identified in the UK. The government has announced a raft of new measures in order to help fight the new variant, which is potentially more infectious and more resistant to vaccines than previous variants. From Tuesday, masks will once again be compulsory in shops and on public transport.