Christmas plans are unlikely to be cancelled due to Covid this year despite two new variants having emerged in the UK. Infections will continue to decline until January, modelling by University College London (UCL) has suggested, although they could rise again in the New Year.
Few, if any, restrictions are set to be put in place, therefore, during the Yuletide period with UCL professor Karl Friston telling the Sunday Telegraph: "The morbidity and mortality of a large post-Christmas wave should be substantially less than previous years. It looks as if the current peak has passed and the long-term forecast suggests a subsequent peak after Christmas.
"This appears to be largely driven by seasonal fluctuations in transmission risk and a slower underlying increase, due to the emergence of new variants." The UCL modelling has taken into account the new Omicron sub variants BQ1 and XBB, which were first seen in the UK last week, leading to predictions of a January wave.
