Omicron might need to be 90 per cent milder than Delta to avoid the NHS coming under unsustainable pressure, SAGE has warned despite studies showing the strain is 45 per cent weaker.
In minutes published today, No10’s top scientists said if Omicron doubles every two days – like modelling estimates – there could still be thousands of hospitalisations this winter even if the strain is slightly weaker.
This could only be avoided, they said, with more curbs, ‘significant behaviour change’,