The first case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in Cambridgeshire was confirmed on Thursday (2/12).

According to Jyoti Atri, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s director of public health, the South Cambridgeshire resident had “recently returned to the UK from an area where Omicron is circulating”, and they were “working closely with UKHSA to identify any close contacts of the confirmed case.”

She said: “Omicron is a variant that we are concerned about as we need to understand how much protection the current vaccines offer against this variant, if it is more transmissible or has a worse effect on people than the current variants.”

According to the most recent update from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), 104 confirmed cases of the variant have been recorded in England.

It states that all the individuals who tested positive and their contacts are currently isolating, and that “targeted testing” will take place in areas “where positive cases are likely to be infectious.”

The chair of Cambridgeshire County Council’s adults and health committee, Councillor Richard Hewitt, said that people should be reassured by how quickly the case was found.

He said: “The fact that this case has been identified so quickly should give people assurance that local health systems are operating effectively and everything which can be done is being done in the fight against Covid.”

He also emphasized the importance of using the same protective measures to prevent the new strain from spreading.

“The same protections against other variants are the best and only protection for Omicron. Let us all follow the advice to get the vaccinations, wear a face mask, observe social distancing and wash our hands.”

Dr Jenny Harries, the Chief Executive of UKHSA said: “We are continuing our efforts to understand the effect of this variant on transmissibility, severe disease, mortality, antibody response and vaccine efficacy.”

She also urged people to continue to get vaccinated, and to wear face masks on public transport and in shops to help prevent the spread of the variant.

“It is very likely that we will find more cases over the coming days as we are seeing in other countries globally and as we increase case detection through focused contact tracing. That’s why it’s critical that anyone with COVID-19 symptoms isolates and gets a PCR test immediately,” she added.

The UKHSA will also be analysing live samples of the variant in its laboratories to investigate how it responds to current vaccines.

The UKHSA has now recorded cases of the Omicron variant in the East Midlands, East of England, London, South East, and North West.