It came as vital stocks of lateral flow tests ran out. A message on the Government website said there are 'no more home test kits available right now' and told Britons to 'try again later'. But the UK Health Security Agency, which confirmed all were aged between 18-85 and most had been fully vaccinated, refused to say if any had already had a booster.
Health bosses today also revealed that 10 Britons have already been hospitalised with Omicron. However, given the variant makes up almost every case in South Africa it is likely that the vast majority of fatalities there are due to the mutant strain but a lack of testing means these are not picked up.
The death in the UK is thought to be the first confirmed Omicron fatality in the world. The PM did not reveal the age of the person who died, or if they had underlying health conditions, which made them vulnerable or whether Omicron was the leading cause of their death or a secondary factor. Mr Johnson warned against being complacent about Omicron, despite reports in South Africa that it is milder than Delta. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister today revealed that at least one patient has died with the Omicron variant as he warned it was now leading to hospitalisations, and that the 'best thing' people could do was get a booster.
The DOH also recorded another 926 daily hospital admissions, up 14 per cent in a week, and 38 deaths, down 7 per cent. No10's scientific advisers have warned this could rise to an astronomical 1million per day by the end of the month if Omicron continues to spread at its current pace.
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Yet, the Department of Health's daily update revealed that there were only 54,661 overall Covid cases in the past 24 hours, marking a rise of just 6 per cent week-on-week. Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, said the best estimate was that there are currently 200,000 overall daily infections across the country, with Omicron expected to become dominant in London by tomorrow and nationally within days. It came as officials confirmed another 1,576 cases of the highly-evolved Omicron variant over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number to 4,713 - however this is believed to be a vast underestimate with the true number several times greater because not all positive tests are analysed for variants. The move comes as the NHS was told to put non-urgent care on the backburner once again and lead the country's mammoth Omicron-busting booster vaccine drive which aims to offer all 53million adults a third dose by the end of January - a goal that would require the programme doubling its current daily rate. Health service bosses have raised the alert to level four meaning they believe there is a real threat that an influx of Covid patients could start to force the closure of other vital services. The entire NHS England was put on the highest level of alert for the first time since March today after the UK's Omicron outbreak surged by 50 per cent in a day and the first death with the mutant strain was confirmed - as No10's turbocharged booster vaccine rollout was plagued with issues on its first day.