joining us now, president and ceo of the university hospital in newark, new jersey. thank you very much for being on this morning, doctor. let s pull back a little bit and just, first, talk about omicron. and is your hospital system ready for potential surge during the holidays? well, thanks so much for having me.oncerned, mika. of course, explosion in cases of the omicron variant in the new york metro area is concerning. we re not yet seeing a major signal in hospitalizations yet. regardless, we ve seen a doubling in the folks with covid-19 in our beds just over the last two weeks. the more immediate concern is the impact this is having on our staff. the fact is, over the last couple weeks, our staff out of work have doubled with covid-19. that s a problem for all the other care we have to provide. we ve been wanting to move on from this pandemic for a long time because of the chronic disease issues and worsening
borisjohnson said the situation in the uk is and always will be immeasurably better than it was a year ago, immeasurably better than it was a yearago, but immeasurably better than it was a year ago, but the government was taking proportionate precautionary measures while scientists crack the omicron code. here is our health editor hugh pym. there is new urgency to the booster jab campaign. this is one of the centres having to gear up for the faster roll out, with all adults becoming eligible and the gap between second dose and boosters halved to three months. it is certainly a major logistical challenge. certainly a ma or logistical challenge. certainly a ma or logistical challenge. certainly a ma or logistical challenue. ~ ., ., , , challenge. we will need to obviously exand our challenge. we will need to obviously expand our capacity challenge. we will need to obviously expand our capacity both challenge. we will need to obviously expand our capacity both here - challenge. we wi
around the world who are now stepping up travel restrictions continues to grow, and that is something people need to bear in mind and check if they are planning on travelling abroad from the uk any time soon. as we have seen over the past few days, things can still change quickly. past few days, things can still chance cuickl. . , , ., ,, change quickly. katy austin, thank ou. borisjohnson was repeatedly asked today about socialising in the run up to christmas. he urged people not to cancel parties or school nativity plays despite a call from a senior health official to limit some social contact. but the hospitality sector is worried about the impact it will all have over the next few weeks as our business correspondent, emma simpson, has been finding out. they are all ready for the christmas season at the small wine bar and restaurant, but on monday, the phones started ringing. brute restaurant, but on monday, the phones started ringing. we have lost, in the phones started ringin
officials say take-up of boosters officials say take up of boosters have been disappointing until the middle of last week, but since thursday, when news of the variant emerged, they say more people have been coming in and the first or second doses as well as boosters. beverley was one of them. she already qualified for a booster and booked in after she first heard the news about omicron. it booked in after she first heard the news about omicron. booked in after she first heard the news about omicron. it was on the back of my news about omicron. it was on the back of my mind news about omicron. it was on the back of my mind because - news about omicron. it was on the back of my mind because i - news about omicron. it was on the back of my mind because i knew. news about omicron. it was on the i back of my mind because i knew the day was coming up when i would be eligible for my booster. but with the news, it really did push me. find the news, it really did push me. and what did yo
treat republicans and democrats equalitily. it is equally. it is sound policy. we don t know a lot of about omicron. we know it can transfer over person to person whether vaccinated or not worse than delta variability. i would like to see more data. i think it would be important to making policy decisions related to travel. it is the right decision right now. the policy is the same, they should be treated equally and that s the problem with politics in this country today, they re not. jason: well, but leting look at florida versus michigan. florida has some of the best covid transmission rates, all of it is bad but certainly what governor de santis is doing was widely panned but he s having the most success right now. he absolutely is. and one of the things the cdc has not done and no policy maker at a federal level has done so far has taken into account what natural immunity does. that may be what we re seeing in florida today. in some studies i ve read, national immunity gives yo