COVID-19: Scientists ‘amazed’ by properties of Omicron variant, says NERVTAG expert | UK news

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A professor said that scientists were “surprised” by the properties of the omicron variable as studies indicate that the coronavirus “changed the way it infects cells.”

Professor Ravi Gupta, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), said experts have been learning about the virus “all the time”.

He warned that the increase in deaths and cases of Omicron was “a serious concern”.

Confirmed cases of the Omicron strain have risen by more than 12,000 in the UK – with cases in London alone exceeding 10,000 – according to the latest data on Sunday.

Prof Gupta told Sky News: “The huge numbers that will be affected by the increased transmission of this virus (and this) is likely to overwhelm our health services. So this is a really critical situation that we are facing.”

He added: “Even if vaccines protect us to a significant degree, the increased transmissibility and penetration of the virus into the communities that we’re already seeing is putting a huge amount of pressure (on the NHS) because a very small portion of the still very high numbers translate into large numbers of hospitalizations.”

Professor Gupta, professor of clinical microbiology at the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases, said Omicron’s properties have somewhat “surprised” scientists.

He said: “Some of the experiments that were done in different groups indicate that the virus has kind of changed the way it infects cells.

“This again is probably due to some mutation that has occurred, and there may be, and that’s a big warning, there may be a slightly different profile for this virus.” [compared to Delta].

“However, even if it was a little milder, in a very broad sense, the huge numbers of cases would still translate into some individuals becoming very ill.

“We do not expect this virus, because of these changes, to suddenly become harmless. I think that should not be an explanation for the work that we and others are doing.

“But what we’re saying is we’re learning about the virus all the time.”

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1:27 Omicron: NHS ‘in danger of being confused’

Prof Gupta said he was “in the middle’s view” on whether the government should take tougher measures to tackle the rising case numbers than the alternative.

He said, “My personal view is that I’m in the middle of my view on this. I think the limitations we had were important.”

“I think we could go further, but I wouldn’t necessarily say a complete shutdown is the primary policy decision, but of course I’m not the policy maker and all I do is research and advise accordingly.”

In Britain, 12 people with Omicron have died, while 104 people with the variant are in hospital, according to the latest figures from the UK’s Health Security Agency.

Earlier, Dominic Raab said he could not provide “hard and fast guarantees” that no further restrictions would be imposed in the lead-up to Christmas.

However, the deputy prime minister said he believed Britons would have a “much better Christmas than last year”.

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