We're pausing our live coverage of the pandemic now. Here's a reminder of the day's main developments:

• The first real-world data showing the new variant Omicron may evade some immunity has been reported by scientists in South Africa - but UK research suggests some promising signs that booster vaccines could help to fight it
• One in 60 people in the UK would test positive for Covid in the week ending 27 November, ONS estimates suggest - up slightly from the previous week
• The acceleration of delivering booster jabs will start no later than 13 December, NHS England says
• The first case of the Omicron Covid variant has been confirmed in Wales. In Scotland, 29 Omicron cases have been found - linked to several sources including a Steps concert at the Glasgow Hydro
• England has 22 confirmed cases as of 30 November

• Officials from the World Health Organization say detection of the new variant is “increasing daily” and its distribution is “likely already wider than currently reported”. They say all countries must prepare for potential new surges connected to Omicron
• An Italian man who wanted a Covid vaccination certificate without getting the jab turned up for his vaccine with a fake arm, officials say

Today's live page posts were written by Alexandra Fouche, Emma Harrison, Alex Kleiderman and Joseph Lee. The live page was edited by Holly Wallis and Lauren Turner. Thanks for joining us.

Rachel Schraer
BBC Reality Check

Image source, Reuters

The Omicron variant was first identified in South Africa, in a region with relatively low rates of vaccination. But making a link between the two is not straightforward.

The virus mutates as it jumps between people as well as within a sick person. So in a population with a low vaccination rate, there will be more infected people around, and a greater opportunity for the virus to change.

But potentially harmful mutations can take hold when the virus faces new challenges like vaccines – so a population with some immunity but with the virus widely present is a perfect environment for new mutations to emerge.

It follows that a highly vaccinated population where infection rates are low probably provides the best barrier against potentially harmful mutations. The challenge is to get from a low to a high-vaccination environment as quickly as possible.

“A mix is the worst thing, but unfortunately we all have to pass through having that mix to get to the other side,” Prof Rowland Kao, a veterinary epidemiologist says.

Another factor is how many people in a population have suppressed immune systems and could be ill with the virus for a long time, giving it more chance to mutate.

One theory is that Omicron emerged in an immunosuppressed person or population – possibly with untreated HIV which is a big problem in the southern African region. But this is very difficult to prove without knowing exactly where it first emerged.

Image source, PA Media

There are no plans to increase the level of Covid restrictions in Northern Ireland before Christmas, Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill says.

She says the existing restrictions are "enough" at this time.

The Sinn Féin vice-president also hit out at those responsible for a fake message on social media suggesting a return to lockdown.

"Those engaged in disinformation are shameful, it's causing confusion," she says.

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

It remains likely that the Omicron cases identified so far in England are a result of a number of "separate introductions" into the country, the UK Health Security Agency says.

Its latest statement, external says available data is limited at this "early stage".

Delta remains the predominant variant in England, it says, accounting for more than 99% of all Covid-19 cases.

There were 22 confirmed cases of Omicron in England, as of 30 November.

A total of 12 of these cases were more than 14 days after receiving at least two doses of vaccine; two were more than 28 days after a first jab; and six were unvaccinated. Two had no available information.

None of these cases are known to have resulted in hospitalisation or death, the agency added.

Victoria Gill
Science reporter, BBC News

Leading HIV and Covid researcher, Prof Penny Moore, says that two pandemics colliding has created a “perfect storm” in South Africa.

Prof Moore, from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa, is at the scientific front line of the mission to understand the threat that the Omicron variant poses to the world.

“Unfortunately in South Africa we have a massive HIV pandemic and many, many untreated people,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Inside Science programme.

“When these people have a SARS CoV-2 infection, there’s increased risk they’ll struggle to clear it. The longer a person has an infection, the higher the odds that the virus will pick up a mutation that somehow benefits it.

“This is one plausible explanation for how Omicron - and other variants - emerged.”

Prof Moore added that, wherever Omicron emerged, “it has properties that make it a risk for all of us - whether we're HIV positive or not.

“It was identified in South Africa, but it's now across the world. We see community transmission and transmissions that are not linked to sub-Saharan Africa. Blocking travel to our country makes it more scientifically difficult to tackle this project.”

Prof Moore added that the techniques and platforms developed for HIV research have accelerated scientists’ ability to understand Covid.

“We now need to transfer that sense of urgency back to HIV,” she told the BBC.

You can listen to Professor Moore’s full interview with BBC science correspondent Victoria Gill on Inside Science on BBC Sounds.

Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst

Image source, Reuters

China has seen a rebound of Covid-19 cases over the last week, particularly in cities that border other countries, and seaports. There have been 80 confirmed cases in the last 24 hours, many of those close to the Mongolian border.

However, there is not yet any indication the new variant has reached China’s mainland. China’s official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday that no local cases of Omicron had been detected, external.

Papers have stressed over the last week that China’s zero-Covid strategy – meaning that lockdowns are imposed the moment cases are discovered - will prevent any variant from being transmitted widely.

In the last week, six cases of the new variant have been confirmed in Hong Kong, external, however. Yet all these cases have been imports, meaning that arrivals were quarantined on entry to the city, and there is no local transmission.

If an outbreak were to occur in Hong Kong, it could threaten imminent plans to make quarantine-free travel possible between Hong Kong and mainland China.

A “Hong Kong Health Code” system has been launched today to facilitate this, which will provisionally allow 1,000 people to travel daily between the two regions - which have different Covid-19 procedures in place - without needing to quarantine. Registration for this is set to begin on 10 December.

Image source, Reuters

As we mentioned earlier, Belgium was going to consider a recommendation to shut schools along with a limit on the number of spectators for indoor events in view of the rising number of cases.

We've now heard that they've decided to bring school holidays forward by a week for nurseries and primary schools and masks will be made compulsory in schools from age six.

Secondary schools will shift to a hybrid system, with half of classes being done at home.

Officials have also given the go ahead for a limit of 200 spectators to be imposed at indoor events. Bars and restaurants will still be able to open until 23:00.

"We cannot allow the train of infection that is thundering through our country to continue at its current pace," Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told a news conference.

With ministers and public health officials urging people to get their booster jabs when eligible or to take the vaccine for the first time if they have not already, the BBC caught up with three members of a family in Bournemouth - each at different stages of vaccination.

Mum Safaa Abdal Motalb was getting her booster while her 16-year-old son Yasin was getting his second dose. Her elder son, 22-year-old Omar, was getting the Covid jab for the first time.

Omar said he was scared of needles but added: "It didn't hurt.

"It’s a quick thing to do, you just do it, you don’t think about it and you get past it straight away. It just makes sure the world is a safer place," he said.

He said he works as an outdoor activity instructor so he's often around children, so it was especially important for him to get protected.

Yasin and Safaa said they were keen to get vaccinated because they needed to travel. "To be safe, we all need to be safe," said Safaa.

"Once we all have it, it will be safer for the community. You can take it easy and enjoy yourself," said Yasin.

A further 50,584 coronavirus cases have been reported in the UK, according to the latest government figures.

There have also been another 143 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Image source, Getty Images

The acceleration of delivering booster jabs will start no later than 13 December, NHS England says.

In a letter sent to health leaders, NHS England said the booking service for booster jabs would be updated to reflect the reduction of the time between doses to three months "as soon as possible and no later than 13 December".

As we've reported before, it confirmed that booster doses would be delivered "in descending age groups, with priority given to the vaccination of older adults and those in a Covid-19 at-risk group first".

There were "no supply challenges" with either Moderna or Pfizer booster stocks, the letter said, and it stressed there was a "new national mission" to up the delivery of the jabs.

GP surgeries will be allowed to defer routine health checks for those aged 75 and over to free up capacity to deliver the jabs.

If you'd like to find out more about the UK's booster rollout and when you'll get your next jab, you can read all about it here.

The first case of the Omicron Covid variant has been confirmed in Wales.

It was found in the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board area, and is linked to international travel.

The Welsh government says it is prepared to "respond rapidly" to the emerging variant, and actions are being taken to slow the spread.

The government adds there is no substantial evidence that the variant will lead to a more severe illness.

Read more

The BBC's Andrew Harding has travelled to the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa where the new Omicron variant is causing concern.

"The new variant? Yes, I'm worried," says Fana Dlamini, 43, loading a bucket with sea water for use in what he says is a religious ceremony.

Danilia du Plessis, 29, walking by with her two children, agrees: "I've already had Covid. But we don't know the symptoms of this new variant. So, I'm scared."

She is shocked that only a third of adults in KwaZulu-Natal have so far been vaccinated.

Twenty-five-year-old Sanele Shabalala is one of those who has not been jabbed.

Beside her on a bench, her two sisters nod in agreement and confirm that none of them have been vaccinated.

They cite false claims of allergic reactions to the jabs that they read about on social media.

Read more here.

Reality Check

Image source, Getty Images

The Omicron variant appears to be driving a sharp increase in new infections in South Africa.

Some 11,500 new coronavirus cases were registered on 2 December. That's a sharp rise on the 8,500 cases confirmed the previous day.

"From the numbers over the last seven days and the curve depicting them, there is a much steeper upward curve than has ever been seen in the last three waves," says Health Minister Joe Phaahla.

Gauteng province accounts for the highest number of coronavirus infections being reported in the country (about 70%). And last month, Omicron accounted for 74% of all samples sequenced in South Africa.

But most of the sequencing to confirm the variant was done in Gauteng province, so it’s not yet clear just how prevalent the variant is in other areas.

Gauteng is also among three provinces with the lowest vaccination rates. It has 32% of the adult population fully vaccinated, compared with the national average of 37%. But even some provinces with higher rates of vaccination have seen sharp rises in case numbers over the past week.

Image source, Getty Images

Omicron cases in Scotland have jumped by 16 in the past 24 hours to 29.

The Scottish government warns cases of the new variant could rise significantly over the coming days as it stresses those reported so far are no longer all linked to a single event.

A statement says reported cases are now linked to several different sources - including a Steps concert at the Glasgow Hydro on 22 November.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says: "This confirms our view that there is now community transmission of this variant within Scotland.

"Given the nature of transmission we would expect to see cases rise - perhaps significantly - in the days ahead."

Image source, Getty Images

Retailers are continuing to put up fuel prices when they should be reducing them in line with savings in wholesale oil prices, the RAC motoring services organisation has said.

In response to concerns about the Omicron variant, oil prices fell by around $10 (£7.50) a barrel last week.

But this reduced wholesale fuel price has not been reflected at the pumps.

Retailers added on average another 3.1p to a litre of unleaded petrol and 2.7p to diesel in November.

The RAC said this hike in petrol prices was "completely unjustified", with larger retailers making a "shocking" profit.

"Since Covid, they've been far more reluctant to pass on any savings, even though the frequency with which they buy means they are in a position to pass on any savings in the wholesale price to drivers far more quickly," RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams told the BBC.

"It would be much fairer if retailers mirrored wholesale prices more closely on a daily or weekly basis."

In particular, the RAC pointed the finger at supermarket chains who are major fuel retailers, such as Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrisons, saying they should have reduced prices, but had instead increased them "unnecessarily".

Read more here.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
BBC Monitoring

Image source, EPA

In a sign of mounting concern over the Omicron strain of Covid-19, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to come up with a plan for combating it, and also to make more funds available for tackling coronavirus.

According to President Putin's order published on the Kremlin website, external, the plan must include measures such as making vaccines more effective against Omicron and making more hospital beds available for new patients.

The Russian government has four days to work out the plan. Putin gave Russia's regions until 15 December to come up with action plans of their own in consultation with the central health ministry in Moscow.

Also today, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova sounded alarm over the continuing epidemic in Russia.

"The virus continues to spread and it is necessary to get vaccinated as soon as possible," she told a meeting in Moscow.

On 3 December, Russia reported 32,930 new Covid-19 cases and 1,217 deaths.

As we've been reporting, South Africa is facing a fourth wave of cases driven by the newly emerged Omicron variant.

Some 11,500 new Covid infections were registered in the latest daily figures.

That is a sharp rise on the 8,500 cases confirmed the previous day.

By contrast, daily infections were averaging between 200 and 300 in mid-November, as shown in this chart:

First data points to Omicron re-infection riskpublished at 13:58 Greenwich Mean Time 3 December 2021

13:58 GMT 3 December 2021

James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent, BBC News

The first real world data showing the coronavirus variant Omicron may evade some of our immunity has been reported by scientists in South Africa.

Scientists have detected a surge in the number of people catching Covid multiple times.

It is a rapid analysis and not definitive, but fits with concern about the mutations the variant possesses.

It is also not clear what this means for the protection given by vaccines.

Scientists have analysed nearly 36,000 suspected re-infections in South Africa to look for any changes to re-infection rates (catching it twice or more) throughout the pandemic.

They showed there was no surge in the risk of re-infection during either the Beta or Delta waves. This is despite laboratory studies suggesting those variants had the potential to evade some immunity.

However, they are now detecting a spike in re-infections. They have not tested each patient to prove it is Omicron, but they say the timing suggests the variant is the driving force.

Read more from James here.

Some may be accused of trying to dodge the system to get a vaccine certificate, but maybe none as resourceful at this Italian man.

He presented health workers in Biella, north-west Italy, with a fake arm made of silicon. But despite its realistic colour, nobody was fooled by the limb.

The man, in his 50s, was reported to local police on Thursday night, AFP news agency reports.

"The case borders on the ridiculous, if it were not for the fact we are talking about a gesture of enormous gravity," the head of the Piedmont regional government, Albert Cirio, said in a statement on Facebook.

Such an act was "unacceptable faced with the sacrifice that our entire community has paid during the pandemic, in terms of human lives, the social and economic cost", he added.

Image source, Getty Images

There will be significant increases to the UK's hotel quarantine capacity from Monday onwards, the Department of Health says.

We have previously heard from from people trying to return to the UK from South Africa who could not find availability for quarantine hotels. The government advised travellers to keep checking back for availability and try to arrive on a different date if necessary.

UK residents returning from countries on the red list must pay to quarantine in a government-approved facility for 10 days, at a cost of more than £2,000 per adult.

“We are rapidly expanding hotel capacity in light of 10 counties being added to the red list, and there will be significant increases to capacity from Monday onwards," the Department of Health statement says.

Ten southern African countries are on the UK's travel red list, external, because of fears about Omicron.

Read more: What are the Covid rules for travelling to the UK?