Covid: Bristol records first confirmed case of Omicron

Bristol mayor Marvin Rees confirmed the development on Wednesday

Bristol has recorded its first confirmed case of the Covid Omicron variant.

Marvin Rees took to Twitter on Wednesday afternoon to reveal that the strain of the virus had entered the city.

Bristol's mayor said that "all close contacts are identified and required to self-isolate for 10 days".

It emerged a day after two confirmed Omicron cases were revealed to have occurred in Somerset.

Taking to Twitter, the Labour mayor said that the council "will keep working closely with health agencies to keep people safe".

On Tuesday health secretary Sajid Javid confirmed that the variant - which was first recorded in South Africa - had been found in "multiple regions of England".

Its continuing spread has prompted the government's Covid Operations Committee to hold a meeting on Wednesday afternoon, according to the BBC's chief political correspondent Adam Fleming.

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This will be followed by a cabinet meeting to discuss potentially moving to "Plan B" measures, a government source has told the BBC.

Rules could include advice to work from home where possible, further rules on facemasks and some form of Covid certification.

Depending on its outcome, the meeting could be followed by a press conference by the prime minister and House of Commons statement by the health secretary, Mr Fleming said.

The Omicron variant is rapidly spreading across the UK

On Tuesday the UK Health Security Agency South West said it had launched an investigation after two confirmed cases of Omicron were linked to the private party in Somerset.

'Super-spreader event'

Its deputy director Dominic Mellon said it was following up with any contacts.

It has not been revealed in which part of Somerset the party took place.

However, epidemiologist Tim Spector claimed it happened at a 60th birthday celebrations.

He tweeted that all the guests were vaccinated and some had received booster jabs at the "super-spreader event".

Between 14 and 18 people later tested positive for the Covid variant "but symptoms all mild luckily", he claimed.