Paul Givan, Northern Ireland’s first minister, said on Monday 13 December that the omicron variant of the coronavirus represented a “storm coming our way” while his deputy, Michelle O’Neill, warned that the country would “very, very soon” be overwhelmed by infections.
“If ever there was a time for a united front on the public health message, it’s today because we’re facing into a very, very difficult period in the weeks ahead where we see this new variant now coming on stream,” Ms O’Neill told Stormont Assembly members during Executive Office questions.
“We are going to be overwhelmed with this new variant very, very soon. My priority is to keep businesses open and safe. I want to keep every door opened but to make sure it’s a safe space for people to enter.”
At that point, Northern Ireland had 10 confirmed cases but, three days later, it had 151, according to the Public Health Agency, only underlining the severity of the situation and the urgency of their message.
Ministers are set to meet on Thursday 16 December to discuss the situation as a Department of Health paper being circulated warned that “significant intervention” could become necessary after Christmas to hold back the tide.
“If omicron is associated with disease severity close to that of delta, significant intervention would be required immediately after Christmas at the latest to have a reasonable chance of keeping hospital inpatient numbers at less than 1,000,” the paper read.
“It is likely that a peak in case numbers will occur in the middle third of January, with hospital admissions and occupancy peaking in late January/early February.
“The extent of the hospital peak will depend on the severity of omicron illness, but without further measures is likely to exceed numbers observed earlier in the epidemic, potentially several fold.”
Responding to the latest figure on the variant, chief medical officer Sir Michael McBride said he was “more concerned at this stage than he has been at any stage in the pandemic”, calling on the public to get their vaccine booster jabs and warning that new social restrictions could be forthcoming.
Boosters are currently available to all adults aged over 30 in Northern Ireland who have had their second dose at least three months previously and are being made available at walk-in centres across the nation in a bid to stop the spread of the latest Covid strain.
Those aged between 18 and 29 will be eligible from Monday 20 December.
Other measures in place include the familiar guidance on masks and social distancing plus a Covid passport scheme requiring people to present proof of vaccination, a negative lateral flow test result or evidence of a previous infection in exchange for entry to large-gathering hospitality venues, which became legally enforceable from Monday 13 December after Assembly members voted 59-24 in favour.
That came despite heated political opposition to the passes on ideological grounds, similar to that seen in England when backbench Tory rebels joined with Liberal Democrats to revolt against Boris Johnson, and saw demonstrations held outside the chamber by protestors.
Their implementation means the passes are now mandatory for access to pubs, restaurants and other licensed premises as well as live sporting events and gigs.
Professor Ian Young, the country’s chief scientific officer, entertained the possibility of further restrictions being brought in to tackle omicron when he pledged that “we will respond rapidly” to any case spike and said the public should be reassured that there are contingency plans in place “which can be activated very quickly by the executive”.
The state of play at present is thought to be around two weeks behind the outbreaks in England and Scotland, although Dr Tom Black, chairman of the British Medical Association in Northern Ireland, has moved to discourage people from needless socialising as a precautionary preventative measure.
“You go out and mix with a crowd next week, one of them will have omicron,” Dr Black told BBC Radio Ulster.
“It’s so infectious, you’ll then come home with it. Which is why I won’t be going out socialising this week or next.”
Mr Givan had previously said it was acceptable for people to attend festive parties so long as they followed the rules, commenting: “We want to keep things open and to do things safely, so people should continue to make their plans now and in the run-up to Christmas, but to do it safely and to follow the public health advice around that.”
