Omicron cases in Hertfordshire inevitable says health boss

Face masks have been made compulsory in shops and on public transport in England in response to the Omicron variant

The director of public health in a county where an Omicron variant of Covid-19 has been found said it was "always a matter of when, not if".

A person was confirmed to have the variant, which could reduce the effectiveness of existing vaccines, in the Three Rivers area of Hertfordshire.

Public health chief, Jim McManus, said there was "a link to international travel" with the case.

He added the person was self-isolating and the symptoms were "mild for Covid".

A case of the variant has also been found in Buckinghamshire and another in Cambridgeshire.

This is alongside the existing cases in Brentwood, Essex and North Norfolk.

Mr McManus said the county's public health team was "in the middle of doing enhanced contact tracing".

"It was always a matter of when, not if, in a county as big as Hertfordshire that we would get a case," he said.

He said the case was "a good wake up call to all of us to take the basic precautions".

But he warned: "I think we will see more cases, this is not going to be the only case I'm pretty sure of that."

Omicron has now been detected in at least 24 countries around the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), after first being discovered in South Africa.

Covid booster jabs will be offered to everyone in England who is eligible by the end of January, to give people the best possible protection over the colder months.

The government has re-introduced the compulsory wearing of face masks in shops and on public transport to try to curb cases.