Warning "significant intervention" may be needed after Christmas on Covid
A Stormont modelling paper has warned that a significant intervention will be needed in Northern Ireland immediately after Christmas if the severity of Omicron is close to that of the Delta variant.
A Department of Health paper is warning "significant intervention" will be needed after Christmas if the Omicron Covid variant is close to the severity of Delta.
The paper circulated to ministers ahead of Thursday's meeting of the Executive stated:
"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."
It warns that a significant intervention will be needed in Northern Ireland immediately after Christmas, at the latest.
The Department of Health paper, seen by the PA news agency, said: "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."