tariq has been seriously ill with covid. now getting better, he praised the nurses. on this ward, says the stress of the pandemic is beginning to tell. i'd be lying if i said that it hadn't affected me mentally. i think everyone is tired, everyone's lethargic, and everyone... it's difficult because i don't think anybody can see an end to this. so it's difficult to see a light at the end of the tunnel. then, just as people were being told christmas parties could go ahead, events took a sudden turn. a new variant, omicron, was detected in south africa. after months of opening up, a new coronavirus variant means travel restrictions are back. at heathrow, the last flights from south africa arrived this morning. i feel extremely relieved, because, yeah, who knows how long this is going to last? we've been told we have to isolate at home. - so, that shouldn't be too bad. from sunday, only uk and irish residents will be allowed in from six southern african countries, and they'll have to pay to quarantine in a hotel. testing for the new omicron variant was increased, cases w