United Kingdom

LONDON, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday that Britain is in an "incomparably better" position than last year in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the country's daily infections repeatedly rising to new highs these days fueled by the Omicron variant.

LONDON, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- A number of new "surge hubs" are to be set up in Britain as the country's National Health Service (NHS) goes on a "war footing" in preparation for a wave of Omicron hospital admissions, health authorities said Thursday.

Temporary structures capable of housing around 100 patients will be erected in the grounds of eight hospitals across the country, with work starting as early as this week, NHS England has said.

LONDON (AP) — Officials have warned revellers in Scotland and Wales to think twice before travelling to England to ring in the new year, highlighting how the four parts of the U.K. were again taking starkly different approaches to coronavirus restrictions amid record-high infections and soaring hospitalizations.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resisted tightening restrictions in England despite the rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant, instead focusing on frequent self-testing and an expanded vaccine booster program to control the spread of infections.

LONDON, Dec 30 (Reuters) - A British rail operator has been forced to suspend all direct services to the busy London Victoria train station until Jan. 10 after staff fell ill with COVID-19 and others had to isolate.

Southern Rail said on Twitter that due to coronavirus isolation and sickness, there would be no direct services to or from London Victoria, disrupting commuter routes from south London and lines that run to the south of the country.

LONDON, Dec 26 (Reuters) - A man who entered the grounds of Windsor Castle, where Britain's Queen Elizabeth is spending Christmas, is being held under the Mental Health Act, London's police said on Sunday.

The 19-year-old from Southampton in southern England did not enter any buildings, and security processes were triggered within moments, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

24 Dec 2021; MEMO: British Labour MP Alex Sobel has called on Samuel Hayek, the chairman the Jewish National Fund (JNF UK), to resign or be removed from office for offensive anti-Muslim remarks.

LONDON, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Britain has reported another 122,186 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, exceeding 120,000 daily cases for the first time since of the start of the pandemic, according to official figures released Friday.

It brought the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 11,891,292.

The country also reported a further 137 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 147,857, with 8,240 COVID-19 patients still in hospital.

LONDON, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Britain reported another day of record COVID-19 cases on Friday, with new estimates showing swathes of London's population are carrying the virus, underlining the relentless advance of the Omicron variant.

Omicron's rapid spread has driven a surge in cases over the last seven days, especially in the capital.

Around 1 in 20 Londoners likely had COVID-19 on Dec. 16 and early estimates - which could yet be revised - suggest this may have risen to 1 in 10 on Sunday, models from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Friday.

LONDON, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- People with Omicron are significantly less likely to develop severe symptoms, according to new analysis by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) released Thursday.

Early results suggest people are 30-45 percent less likely to go to A&E if they are infected with Omicron than with Delta. They are also 50-70 percent less likely to need to be admitted to hospital, according to the UKHSA.

24 Dec 2021; MEMO: Four asylum seekers who crossed the English Channel to the UK in small boats have managed to have their conviction for immigration offences revoked, with the UK's Court of Appeal acknowledging a lack of proof that they intended to illegally enter the country.