PARIS, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Frace now has identified 25 positive cases of the Omicron COVID-19 virus variant, of which 21 were imported from people returning from Southern Africa, and four who were the result of local infection, Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Monday. Veran said the Omicron variant seems much more contagious than the Delta variant. He also said that France is aiming to start offering COVID-19 vaccination to all children aged 5 to 11 from December 20, provided health authorities give the go-ahead.
England has community transmission of Omicron variant, health minister says
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s health minister said on Monday there is now community transmission of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus across regions of England but it is too early to say if this will “knock us off our road to recovery”. Defending the introduction of stricter rules to slow the spread of the virus, Sajid Javid told parliament the government was “leaving nothing to chance” while scientists assessed the variant, which was first reported in South Africa last month. Javid said there are now 261 Omicron cases in England, 71 in Scotland and four in Wales – a total of 336. “This includes cases with no links to international travel, so we can conclude there is now community transmission across multiple regions of England,” Javid said.