LONDON (AP) – The highly contagious Omicron mutant has become the dominant form of the coronavirus in England. British Health Minister Sajid Javid said in an interview with Sky News, Omicron now accounts for 60 percent of all cases in the country.

The variant had spread rapidly in recent weeks: On Saturday alone, 10,059 new omicron cases were reported in the United Kingdom – three times as many as the day before. Omicron already dominates in Scotland as well.

To slow the spread of Omicron in Germany, the federal government has declared Great Britain a virus containment zone and thus highly restricted entry from the country from Monday.

At the same time, the debate about strict halo measures has a head in Great Britain, where far-reaching freedoms are still coming to force. According to media reports, discussions are underway regarding a sort of lockdown dam after Christmas days. Scientific advisors are calling for measures to be tightened as quickly as possible in order to prevent the health system from being overloaded. It is “almost certain that there are currently millions of new Omicron infections per day” in England – so the large number of unreported cases. According to the Guardian, some modelers warned that without strict measures there could be up to two million new infections a day by the turn of the year.

Boris Johnson’s government is still expected to be able to depend largely on the safety of vaccination. Health Minister Javed unvaccinated the voice against nearly five million – about ten percent of the population. “You really need to think about the damage you are doing to society by occupying hospital beds that could otherwise be used for someone else, maybe someone with heart problems or an operation,” Minister Skye Told the news.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211219-99-440452/3