British PM Boris Johnson confirms first Omicron-related death

London : British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has officially announced the death of UK's first Omicron patient, Sky News reported. On Monday, UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid had said that they may consider shutting down schools in England if the Omicron cases continue to rise.

"When it comes to our fight against the pandemic there are no guarantees," Javid told LBC radio on Monday, as he detailed plans to offer all adults in England a booster vaccination by the end of December.

On a visit to a vaccination centre in west London, Johnson said Omicron accounted for about 40 percent of the cases in the British capital, and hospital admissions were rising.

"Sadly, at least one patient has been confirmed to have died with Omicron," he told reporters, a day after warning the country was facing a "tidal wave" of infection.

There were 1,239 confirmed cases of the variant recorded on Sunday and scientists have said numbers are doubling every two to three days.

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