LONDON, Jan 13, Reuters -- British health minister Sajid Javid will give a statement on Thursday on COVID 19 to parliament, amid a debate in government over whether to cut the isolation period of people with COVID 19 to 5 days from 7 days.
The rapid spread of the Omicron variant has resulted in a spike in COVID 19 cases to record highs in Britain, though the roll-out of booster shots and the lesser severity of the variant has meant hospitalisations and deaths have not risen as sharply.
The surge has caused a major disruption to the staff of hospitals, schools and transport, as staff have to self-isolate.
The isolation period has been reduced by the government to seven days from 10 days for people in England who have a negative result on a rapid lateral flow test two days in a row.
The prime minister Boris Johnson said this week that the government was looking at further cutting the isolation period to five days from seven, after a government minister said on Sunday that reducing the self-isolation period would help employers hardest hit by absences.
Britain has reported 151,000 deaths from COVID -- 19 in total, the seventh highest death total in the world.