UK reports 48.59% single-day increase in confirmed omicron cases
The U.K. reported a 48.59 percent single-day increase in confirmed omicron cases Sunday.
And across the U.K. in the last seven days, there's been a 51.9 percent increase in new COVID cases. Hospitalizations are up 8.1 percent during that period. However, there's been a 6.5 percent decrease in new deaths compared to the preceding seven days.
On Sunday, the British government reported 82,886 new COVID cases and 45 new deaths. The government also confirmed 12,133 new cases of the omicron variant.
London's mayor declared a major incident in the capital Sunday because of the serious threat of omicron. In an interview with the BBC on Sunday, he said that in the last 24 hours, "we're at almost 30,000 confirmed new cases, and in the last seven days almost 130,000 confirmed new cases."
He said he's worried about the impact the increases are already having on frontline emergency services in London, adding there are a record number of absences that will hamper their ability to respond to people who are unwell.
-ABC News' Christine Theodorou