admitted to hospital with coronavirus could be exceeded. that was lt,500 seen injanuary. speaking to mps, professor chris whitty said that the present wave of the omicron variant was likely to peak quite quickly, but that it could also reduce faster than previous peaks. health officials have warned that nhs services may be badly affected by staff illness as omicron spreads rapidly, and that they are trying to keep routine hospital services going as much as possible. here s our health correspondent, dominic hughes. with the number of new covid 19 infections surging, how will the nhs and social care cope? with a highly infectious new variant, one of the biggest concerns is what will happen when as seems inevitable large numbers of staff fall ill, while at the same time hospital admissions linked to the virus are climbing. we will keep as much of our routine services going as possible, that s what we did last january during the last big wave. but inevitably, if we get many,
but the reason they have decided to bring but the reason they have decided to bring the but the reason they have decided to bring the booster doses forward for people bring the booster doses forward for people in bring the booster doses forward for people in the uk is precisely because people in the uk is precisely because we know that it will give you cover because we know that it will give you cover against the omicron variant you cover against the omicron variant in you cover against the omicron variant in the next couple of months and that variant in the next couple of months and that is variant in the next couple of months and that is the most important thing and that is the most important thing it and that is the most important thing it is and that is the most important thing. it is possible that people might thing. it is possible that people might need another dose, another booster, might need another dose, another booster, perhaps into the middle of next y
two years. keep doing those and try and have as much space between individual and have as much space between individual people as you can possibly individual people as you can possibly manage any space you are working possibly manage any space you are working on possibly manage any space you are working on. that is my best advice, i working on. that is my best advice, i am working on. that is my best advice, i am afraid working on. that is my best advice, i am afraid- i am afraid. ok, i am ust going to add in i am afraid. ok, i am ust going to add in one more i i am afraid. ok, i amjust going to add in one more question, - i am afraid. ok, i amjust going to add in one more question, which l add in one more question, which quite a few people have mentioned to me recently and this is around, if you have had your booster, your primary vaccines and your booster, and yes had probably been dealt a variant of covid, does that give you added protection against omicron? yes, it s
the vaccine into contact with the virus and if the vaccine has worked it will actually the vaccine has worked it will actually give them an additional match actually give them an additional match with the booster, so that should match with the booster, so that should protect you from the worst consequences of any version of covid consequences of any version of covid. let s not forget that although there were 78,000 new cases of the although there were 78,000 new cases of the covid although there were 78,000 new cases of the covid virus posted yesterday, the majority of those were actually dealt the majority of those were actually dealt a the majority of those were actually dealt a variant, so we delta variant is still dealt a variant, so we delta variant is still around as well as the omicron is still around as well as the omicron variant. is still around as well as the omicron variant. ~ , ., omicron variant. ok. well, dr sarah pitt, a virologist omicron variant
on testing and isolation. earlier, i spoke to sean tipton from the association of travel agents and tour operators, abta. obviously, public health must come first, but no better authority than the world health organization said that, if you want to control the spread of a variant, travel bans are not the right way to do it. you should concentrate on vaccination programmes, which we are quite rightly doing in the uk, and france is as well, and also stick to things like social distancing and wearing facemasks. so travel bans simply do not work. they do not stop variants from spreading. what they do do, though, is cause immense damage to the outbound travel industry. i mean, we surveyed our members not so long ago, saying, what level of business are you at at the moment? they said they were only at a fifth of their level before the pandemic. so we are hearing quite rightly how badly affected