UK health official labels omicron the ‘most significant threat’ since start of pandemic

U.K. officials have warned that the omicron variant of COVID-19 is “the most significant threat” to public health in the country since the start of the pandemic.

The head of the U.K Health Security Agency Jenny Harries, warned that the public should expect “staggering” growth in case numbers in the coming weeks, according to The Guardian.

“It’s probably the most significant threat we’ve had since the start of the pandemic and I’m sure for example the numbers that we see on data over the next few days will be quite staggering compared to the rate of growth that we’ve seen in cases for previous variants,” she said to the U.K.’s Commons Transport Committee.

“The real potential risk here – and I would underline that because we are still learning a lot about the variant – is in relation to its severity, clinical severity, and therefore whether those cases turn into severe disease, hospitalizations and deaths. We’re still at too early stage for that. In fact, the world probably is still at too early stage to be clear,” Harries added per The Guardian.

This comes just a few days after the World Health Organization warned that the highly contagious COVID-19 variant was spreading at an unprecedented rate.

The U.K. has already noted a significant rise in the number of COVID cases from the new omicron variant.