1,30,000 Covid Cases In UK

London and Cardiff announced 129,471 new cases

London: On Tuesday, England and Wales reported nearly 130,000 new covid-19 cases, Omicron variant cases surge and the responses of the UK's four nations continue to diverge.

Health Authorities in London and Cardiff announced 129,471 new cases, while the government in Scotland provisionally recorded 9,360 infections and Northern Ireland released no updated data due to the Christmas holidays.

Recently daily cases have crossed the 100,000 cases in the UK for the first time during the pandemic, as Omicron has become the fast spreading strain of Covid-19.

Britain is already among the worst hit countries in Europe with a virus death tally reaching 150,000.

Following the recent rise in infections, the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have each introduced renewed curbs on hospitality and bigger social gatherings.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has responsibility for health policy in England only, has so far decided against following suit with tougher restrictions there.

Under pressure from within his own ruling Conservatives not to enact new rules, he has focused on ramping up the country's vaccine booster programme.

By Tuesday, nearly 33 million third doses had been administered, as officials rushed to meet a target of offering a booster jab to the adults by the end of the month.

On Monday, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said Despite Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast all implementing their new curbs this week.

He vowed ministers would keep the latest data under constant review.

Hospital admissions are increasing, particularly in London which has been hardest hit by Omicron.