Omicron: Wales expects 'formidable wave' of Covid variant

Wales stands on the brink of "another potentially perilous moment" ahead of an expected "formidable wave" of Omicron cases, First Minister Mark Drakeford has warned.

Five cases have been found in Wales but this is expected to rise substantially, with a peak by the end of January.

Plans for all adults to be offered a booster jab by the end of that month were announced.

Mr Drakeford appealed to the public to take up the offer.

Health Minister Eluned Morgan expressed concern the variant "spreads very rapidly".

On Tuesday officials confirmed the fifth Omicron case in Wales, among 101 cases reported in the UK on the same day.

It brings the total to 437. The variant is believed to be spreading in the community in England.

The prime minister's official spokesman has said Omicron appears more transmissible than Delta - the variant of coronavirus currently dominant in the UK.

Scotland's first minister says her government will be reviewing Covid restrictions on a daily basis due to a rapid increase in cases of the variant there.

In the Welsh Parliament on Tuesday Mark Drakeford said Wales stands at the brink of "another potentially perilous moment" in the pandemic.

He said Wales has to "brace ourselves for the potential for a formidable wave of new infections in the new year, potentially just six weeks from now, if we cannot slow the spread of this new variant".

Appealing for people to be vaccinated, he added: "It is the best Christmas present you can give yourself and your family this year, and it's not too dramatic to say that it's an investment in making sure that you are here for a healthy and happy Christmas next year as well."

He spoke following a Welsh government press conference where his colleague Eluned Morgan refused to rule out tightening Covid rules.

No new restrictions have yet been introduced in Wales in response to the new variant, but she said: "We can't give you any assurances on that because we are still learning about the situation."

Ministers have instead stressed the need to take care over the festive period, and Ms Morgan recommended people take lateral flow tests before meeting friends over Christmas.

"It's clear people should act with caution," the minister said.

Mark Drakeford is due to announce his latest review of coronavirus restrictions on Friday.

The health minister said it was not yet known how sick the Omicron variant could make people.

Hospital admissions in South Africa had gone go up from about 143 to 788 in two weeks, she said, but added that "we don't know if that's a pattern we would see reflected in our population".

"We don't know the extent to which vaccines will give us protection but we do think they will give us a lot more than having no vaccine at all. So that's why our plea today is please help us in this situation."

Ms Morgan said: "We are expecting a significant wave of Omicron to hit Wales.

"The modelling suggests that it will reach its peak by around the end of January, which is why there is an urgency in terms of getting people vaccinated and boosters done as soon as possible."

Speaking with BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, Dr Cheryl Walter, a lecturer in microbiology at Hull University, said that South African clinicians have said for a while that they are only seeing mild disease in patients diagnosed with Omicron.

"In terms of potency, it might be transmitted more easily, and again that is unsurprising when you look at the rate of cases of Omicron and how quickly they have crept up.

"But anecdotal studies and clinicians are saying that the Omicron variant of the disease is relatively mind, which is really good news," she added.

All cases of Omicron in Wales have so far been detected in the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board area.

Dr Meng Khaw of Public Health Wales said the fifth individual, announced on Tuesday, had recently travelled.

"As we have said previously, an increase in cases of Omicron variant in Wales is to be expected," she said.

The overall seven-day rolling case rate per 100,000 people has risen slightly to 493.3.

There were two more deaths reported by Public Health Wales on Tuesday, bringing the total to 6,441.

On Tuesday the Welsh government announced it would offer all adults a booster vaccine by the end of January, in line with targets announced last week in England and Scotland.

It follows advice to bring forward the gap between second and third doses from six months to three - significantly increasing the number of adults eligible for a third dose.

Plans include:

This will allow the NHS to ramp up the number of vaccinations from 19,000 a day to the goal of more than 200,000 a week.

At Tuesday's press conference, Ms Morgan there may be a need "to reduce some planned care" in the NHS to run the booster programme "but we're obviously hoping that we can keep our GP surgeries going as usual".

Some family doctors had "stepped up and offered support, but we're not expecting that provision within our community to be reduced at this time", Ms Morgan added.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Gill Richardson encouraged pregnant women to get vaccinated before the variant takes hold.

She said intensive care admissions for unvaccinated pregnant women "are really much higher than they should be".

According to recent figures, one in six patients receiving the ECMO treatment, the most intense form of intensive care, were pregnant.

Dr Richardson accepted that the decision was " very difficult" and "women are worried and concerned".

But she asked them to talk to their midwives and partners about the vaccine, "because we have seen some real tragedies amongst pregnant ladies who have sadly left their families behind and succumbed to the Delta variant".

Welsh Conservative and shadow health minister Russell George said: "I am pleased that the minister has finally heeded our calls to rapidly roll out booster jabs and redeploy our volunteer army, even implementing our proposal for walk-in centres which she called free-for-alls only a few days ago.

"However, the reported possibility of extending vaccine passports to hospitality business is a slap in the face for one of the worst-affected sectors of the pandemic."

Plaid Cymru said ministers should base any decisions on new restrictions or lockdowns on emerging evidence of the seriousness of the Omicron variant.

Delyth Jewell said: "In the interim, being in a vacuum is not a good place to be, so businesses need to have clarity on whether there are going to be further restrictions."