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Chris Whitty says that Omicron will peak 'really quite fast'

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Since it was first detected in the UK last month, there have now been more than 10,000 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant as of Wednesday, December 15. Last weekend the Government raised the UK’s Covid alert level from three to four and is now urging people to regularly use lateral flow/antigen test (LFT) kits to help slow down the rapid spread of the strain. However, questions have been asked about if the variant can actually be detected on LFTs given its recent emergence. Below, Express.co.uk explains whether or not this is the case.

The Covid variant, Omicron, dipyridamole tablets was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) by South Africa on November 24 and swiftly declared a variant of interest two days later.

To date, it has been detected within at least 77 countries, including the US, Japan and Brazil.

UK cases of the variant now total 10,017 after a record 4,671 new cases were reported across the British Isles yesterday.

Omicron’s rapid spread throughout UK communities has led to the Government introducing a series of new Covid restrictions in recent weeks, and raising the Covid alert level to four.

An alert level of four – the second-highest possible rating – now means that there is a high or rising level of transmission.

With case numbers, in general, continuing to rise, UK residents are being encouraged to test themselves frequently, with LFTs, to see if they are infected with the virus.

LFTs have been a fixture throughout the pandemic as an easy to use Covid test kit that can be acquired from a number of different providers.

Nonetheless, questions have been raised in recent days as to whether the test method can actually recognise the Omicron variant. So, can they?

If you have coronavirus, a lateral flow test will show you are positive for the virus.

However, a lateral flow test cannot at this point identify which variant an individual has been infected with if they test positive for Covid.

Scientists in South Africa have expressed a view that LFTs will still tell you if you have been infected with Covid, including with the Omicron variant.

In fact, this view has been backed up recently through a rapid assessment by FIND – a global alliance focused on diagnostic technology – though this is still to be officially verified.

Originally, it was feared that due to its recent emergence and the unusually high number of mutations it contains – compared to previous variants – that LFTs would not be able to detect cases of Omicron.

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Why are scientists concerned about the Omicron variant?

Scientists are concerned that the number of mutations contained within the Omicron variant could reduce vaccine efficacy – how much immune protection you are afforded by being vaccinated.

Preliminary data from South Africa suggests that the variant may lead to milder illness and fewer hospitalisations.

However, it should be noted this pattern may not translate to other countries, due to the unique circumstances in South Africa, where high numbers of people have previously been infected with Covid.

Experts are also concerned Omicron could be significantly more transmissible than variants that have come before it – such as the Delta or Alpha strains.

Although, again we are still awaiting confirmed testing and analysis to prove this could be the case.

The data we have at this moment in time does seem to imply Omicron carries a higher level of transmissibility.

For example, in the UK the overall number of confirmed Omicron cases have nearly doubled to the current standing of 10,017, within the latest 24-hour-period.

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