that's compared to the delta variance and very early data from the university of edinburgh indicates a 2 thirds reduction and the risk of ending up in hospital. then on tuesday, there was a study from south africa, which showed that people infected or 70 to 80 percent less likely to have to be admitted. professor cheryl cohen is a senior author of that south african study at the national institutes for communicable diseases and has more on her teams findings. when we look at this finding that we have overdue severity, they really are 2 possible explanations and i think it's likely both of them contribute to the one is that potentially the virus is actually intrinsically less than there are some early data to suggest that the parts of the body that a target in the life might be different and contribute to it actually being intrinsically less likely to cause severe disease. but the other important contribution is the role of pre existing immunity. so the in south africa, more than 70 percent of people have had soft coffee to before. and many people have also had vaccination. and so in t

the glasgow summit, we asked you a hazel dean, professor carbon capture on storage at the university of edinburgh for his hopes for the summit. now you to turn to the show to provide the expert runtime on the successes and failures of course, train to fix beds priced to teach the most. i mess just in response i should last week with large 2nd member. 7 of parliament angus brandon mcneil, owners, i'm in relation to the house of lords. i'm sure david williams says, you mean what they're doing is wasting time. taxpayer money as effort doing things that palmer has already digit to and will reject again. sha mendosa piers. give out the power it can go on. there's been an extreme depletion and what integrity there was since the days of david cameron, margaret peter says another excellent program are relaxed and mature interview spank statistics and alex, and finally william nickle who says, please try and give steps of who i mentioned alex and just me know, always a brilliant show. i've been watching crops in government for far too long. now. they go into government with good intentions, i believe, but

in hospital for a night or more compared to the delta variant and very early data from the university of edinburgh indicates a 2 thirds reduction in the risk of ending up in hospital. on tuesday, a study from south africa showed that people infected are 70 to 80 percent less likely to have been admitted. catherine bennett is chair epidemiology at the institute for health transformation, the deacon university in melbourne. she says on the comes rapid growth is a warning sign. the way this particular variant is spreading makes is really important. good news. we had been hurtful from the early days watching that the numbers come out of south africa who had the 1st, i guess real experience of this and good days reporting. but we're now seeing it repeated in other settings as well. so with the rapid rising cases in places like a stray area we've, we've never had even up to 30000 active cases at a time now where over 50000. so it's really taken off quickly. so the severity is really critical. we need to understand that what a rapid rising cases case number's this we haven't seen before in many countries

and very early data from the university of edinburgh indicated that 2 thirds reduction in risk of hospitalization. meanwhile, in south africa were the strain was 1st identified. people are between 70 to 80 percent less likely to go to a hospital. or scientists say that the daily cases appear to have peak that last week they have fallen every day since december 17th. neve barker begins are coverage health services across europe on a war footing. taking the fight to armor chrome by giving booster vaccinations to hundreds of thousands of people a day. the variance fueling a new wave of infections across europe. in the french capital long queues formed outside pharmacies and coven testing centers in the run up to the christmas holidays. elsewhere, french police increase their checks on people's health passes, allowing for now at least the cities restaurants to remain open. president manuel micron took to instagram to urge people to avoid spreading the virus and from you on honey with this year, once again, because of the virus, i asked you to have a lot of vigilance. this means continuing the protect

very early data from the university of edinburgh indicates a 2 thirds reduction in the risk of hospitalization. on to say a new study from south africa where the strain was identified showed that people infected are 70 to 80 percent less likely to go to hospital. let us bring in catherine bennett. she is chair in a p. m. ology. at the institute for house transformation, a deacon university, and he's joining us from melbourne. thank you very much for being with us, miss bennett. what is your reaction 1st to these findings? how encouraging are they and could this be the, the beginning of the end of a pandemic? well, the way this particular variant is spreading makes is really important. good news. we had been hurtful from the early days. what the numbers come out of south africa, who had the 1st, i guess real experience of this and good days. you're reporting, we're now seeing it repeated in other settings as well. so with the rapid rising cases in places like a straight area we've, we've never had even up to 30000 active cases at a time now where over 50000. and so it's really taken off quickly

in hospital for night or more compared to the delta variance and very early data from the university of edinburgh suggest a 2 thirds reduction in the risk of ending up in the hospital on tuesday, a study from south africa showed people infected 17 to 80 percent less likely to have to be admitted. ok, let's bring in that. profess cheryl cohen, who is a senior author of that south african study at the national institute for communicable diseases. she joins us live from johannesburg. thanks for being on the news. our professor. so there's been a fair bit of doom and gloom ahead of this festive season, but this study that you've been involved in has provided a little bit of good news. tell us more so absolutely. i think certainty when you merged and cases are going up so rapidly and then there was evidence of the mean escape. also in south africa, we felt really gloomy about it. and then part of the, i'm in the, if it, they make, they were early signs that, that this variance really seem to be less severe. the cases were going to rapidly, and the hospitalizations weren't going up that fast. but we re

on storage at the university of edinburgh, for his hopes for the summit. now he to times to the show to provide the expert runtime on the successes and failures of 26 bud priced to teach him if i messed in a sponsor, i should last week with lord sick and member of parliament, i guess banded mcneil owners. and in relation to the house of lords and david william says, you mean what they're doing is wasting time. taxpayer, money, effort, doing things that parliament has already detected and will reject again. charmaine also, peers give out the power it can go on. there's been an extreme depletion what integrity there was since the days of david cameron, my computer says another excellent program are relaxed to mature. introduce back statistics and alex and finally william nicole who says, please try and give steps of hope. i mention alex and to me now, always a brilliant show. i've been watching corruption government for far too long. now. they're going to government with good intentions, i believe, but end up joining the clicks on chloe's. stacy, thanks agai

let's speak to rowland kao, professor of epidemiology and data science at the university of edinburghys to a week? i would think the critical thing _ days to a week? i would think the critical thing here _ days to a week? i would think the critical thing here is _ days to a week? i would think the critical thing here is the _ days to a week? i would think the critical thing here is the addition i critical thing here is the addition of the lateral flow test to try and ensure that the person is not at least heavily laden virus. fibre speaks relatively early but then drops off. there's still a substantial chance of people still being infectious later on, but does drop off quite quickly. so the combination of the reduction in the period, plus the lateral flow test will give you, hopefully, roughly the same level of protection against infections as you do with the ten day quarantine. it does mean you should not be cautious in some of the guidance does tell you about that. .,, , , the guidance does tell you about that. , ., . ., , ., that. possible with omicron but not ossible that. possibl

we are steward his old professor, carbon capture and storage at the university of edinburgh for his hopes for the summit. no, you the tones to the shoe to provide the expert write down on the successes and failures of cop 26 bud breast. 13th e mails and messages in response threshold last week with large seca i member. 7 of parliament angus brandon mcneil, owners, i'm in relation to the house of lords, andrew david williams says, you mean what they're doing is wasting time. taxpayers, money and effort. doing things apartment has already rejected and will reject again . charming door says peers give added power, county gone. there's been an extreme depletion and what integrity there was since the days of david cameron, my computer says another exempt program i relaxed, mature, introduce banks to test me and alex, and finally william nickle who says, please try and give step support. i mention alex and his me now always a brilliant show. i've been watching crops in government for far too long. no. they go into government with good intentions. i.

professor rowland kao, epidemiologist at university of edinburgh, spoke to me earlier and emphasised ant. there�*s an awful lot of uncertainty regarding the potential impact in the medium term future of the omicron variant but what we do know is there is now increasing evidence from south africa that it�*s extremely widespread there and that the reinfection rates, the rate at which the variant is infecting people who have already been infected with other versions of coronavirus is higher. that�*s something that�*s new and different compared to the other variants. it�*s that increased risk which means it�*s more likely that highly vulnerable portions of the population here are likely to have greater risk posed to themselves, we had largely protected them through a combination of natural infection and vaccination, mainly the latter. some of those protections will likely disappear but we do not know for sure. in terms of the impact of the omicron variant, we keep hearing it is mild and i think it�*s still the case that nobody has died of it? i�*m not sure what the latest is or not, that�

the glasgow summit, we asked you at hazel dean, professor carbon capture on storage at the university of edinburgh for his hopes for the summit. now either tones to the shoe to provide the export, right. i.

let's speak now to professor rowland kao, epidemiologist at university of edinburgh. just discussing a new travel measures coming in and there is a three week review period. basically what the government gets to grips with what omicron is going to grips with what omicron is going to mean, the seriousness of it going forward. we had a bit of extra time. what is the sense that you have in terms of the effects, the potential impact, of omicron? i terms of the effects, the potential impact, of omicron?— impact, of omicron? i guess the first thing to _ impact, of omicron? i guess the first thing to say _ impact, of omicron? i guess the first thing to say is _ impact, of omicron? i guess the first thing to say is there - impact, of omicron? i guess the first thing to say is there is - impact, of omicron? i guess the first thing to say is there is stilll first thing to say is there is still an awful lot we don't know and an awful lot of uncertainty regarding the potential impact in the medium term future for the omicron variant. but what we do know is there is now increasing

the study spied by the university of vienna and edinburgh estimate that nearly 9 percent of the population of germany belong to the steamer. and it's a very heterogeneous group. and the distance is the central element. not too long ago, in fact, we saw a torchlight marching from the house of the health minister in saxony. that's a german state. do you expect to see more violence, especially as we near this debate on a vaccine mandate in germany? nace lacy clear evidence of her the radicalization when we defined radicalization as extreme ideologies and violence with an increase in public statistics in a group based and and racist based hate crimes. and we see many protests, it's not, it's not that the amount of people is increasing. so, so, so the corona protests and 20 trained to you that we saw huge protest but, but now it's going very much low color. and uh, the people who are now in the small shipment become very extreme. and the mandatory vaccination. this, the topic of monetary vaccination was always the bridge to the center of society. so for example, in spring this year we run a rep

we have had other studies from imperial college and the university of edinburgh which looked pretty similarot of data on the kind of positives from the severity of omicron, but what we do know is it is a lot more infectious and that means the kind of scale a problem could end up dwarfing the benefit of the fact that it is a lot less severe. tricky questions for the government. we know there isn't a decision coming before christmas. it is looking, i would say, a lot less likely that we are going to see restrictions before the new year. the important caveat that that could change. of course those deadly infection figures as well as hospitalisation figures as well as hospitalisation figures are a big concern for the government because those big numbers keep going up and we are quite possibly in for a rather sizeable problem. possibly in for a rather sizeable roblem. , . , , possibly in for a rather sizeable roblem. , ., , , , possibly in for a rather sizeable roblem. , , , , ., , possibly in for a rather sizeable roblem. , ._ ,,.,y , problem. presumably this story is aood problem. presumably t

we have network of corona deny us the study spied by the university of vienna and edinburgh estimate that nearly 9 percent of the population in germany belong to the ice and it's a very heterogeneous group. and the distance is the central element. not too long ago, in fact, we saw a torchlight march and from the house of the health minister in saxony. that's a german state. do you expect to see more violence, especially as we near this debate on a vaccine mandate in germany? nace lacy clear evidence of her the radicalization when we defined radicalization as extreme ideologies and violence with an increase in public statistics in a group based and and racist based hate crimes. and we see many protests, it's not, it's not that the amount of people is increasing. so. so the corona protests in 2022 that we saw huge protest but, but now it's going very much low color. and uh, the people who are now in this movement become very extreme. and the mandatory vaccination. this, the topic of monetary vaccination was always the bridge to the center of society. so for example, in spring this year

the study spied by the university of vienna and edinburgh estimate that nearly 9 percent of the population of germany belonged to the steamer. and it's a very heterogeneous group, and the distance is the central element. not too long ago, in fact, we saw a torchlight marching from the house of the health minister in saxony. that's a german state. do you expect to see more violence, especially as we near this debate on a vaccine mandate in germany? nace lacy clear evidence of her the radicalization when we defined radicalization as extreme ideologies and violence with an increase in public statistics in a group based and and racist based hate crimes. and we see many protests, it's not, it's not that the amount of people is increasing. so. so the corona protests in 2022 that we saw huge protest but, but now it's going very much low color. and uh, the people who are now in this movement become very extreme. and the mandatory vaccination. this, the topic of monetary vaccination was always the bridge to the center of society. so for example, in spring this year we run a representative, sorry, i

the study spy by the university of vienna and edinburgh estimate that nearly 9 percent of the population of germany belong to the steamer. and it's a very heterogeneous group. and the distance is the central element. not too long ago, in fact, we saw a torchlight marching from the house of the health minister in saxony. that's a german state. do you expect to see more violence, especially as we near this debate on a vaccine mandate in germany? nice lazy, clear evidence of her the radicalization of when we defined radicalization as extreme ideologies and violence with an increase in public statistics in a group based and, and racist based. i hate crimes. we see many protests. it's not, it's not that the amount of people is increasing so. so the corona protest in 20, trained to you that we saw a huge protest but, but now it's going very much local and of the people who are now in the small from and become very extreme. and the mandatory vaccination this, the topic of monetary vaccination was always the bridge to the center of society. so for example, in spring this year we run a representa

we have network of corona deniers. studies by by the university of vienna and edinburgh estimate that nearly 9 percent of the population of germany belong to the steamer. and it's a very heterogeneous group. and the distance is the central element. not too long ago, in fact, we saw a torchlight marching from the house of the health minister in saxony. that's a german state. do you expect to see more violence, especially as we near this debate on a vaccine mandate in germany? nace lacy clear evidence of her the radicalization when we defined radicalization as extreme ideologies and violence with an increase in public statistics in a group based and and racist based hate crimes. and we see many protests, it's not, it's not that the amount of people is increasing. so, so, so the corona protests and 20 trained to you that we saw huge protest but, but now it's going very much low color. and uh, the people who are now in this movement become very extreme. and the mandatory vaccination. this, the topic of monetary vaccination was always the bridge to the center of society. so for example, in

we have network of corona deniers at the study spied by the university of vienna and edinburgh estimate that nearly 9 percent of the population of germany belong to the steamer and it's a very heterogeneous group. and the distance is the central element. not too long ago, in fact, we saw a torchlight marching from the house of the health minister in saxony. that's a german state. do you expect to see more violence, especially as we near this debate on a vaccine mandate in germany? nice lacy clear evidence of her the radicalization. when we defined radicalization as extreme ideologies and violence, we have an increase in public statistics in a group based and, and racist based hate crimes. and we see many protests, it's not, it's not that the amount of people is increasing. so, so, so the corona protests and 20 trained t that we saw, huge protest but, but now it's going very much low color. and, uh, the people who are now in this movement become very extreme. and the mandatory vaccination. this, the topic of monetary vaccination was always the bridge to the center of society. so for exam

professor aziz sheikh is the lead author of the edinburgh university study. lained the findings. in essence, we've got three core findings here. and we've been in the fortunate position of really being able to track the entire scottish population. so, the first is that we've seen 0micron just run through scotland incredibly rapidly. the first case was towards the end of november, november the 23rd, and then in the three to four weeks subsequently, we've seen that it's become the dominant variant in scotland. so, it's basically swept through the population very rapidly. the second issue and a big unanswered question that we've been grappling with is what's the risk of severe outcomes? and by that we mean covid hospitalisations or deaths. what we've been able to show when we do analyses adjusted for all sorts of other situations such as age, sex, underlying comorbidities, vaccination status is that with the relatively few cases that we've got, it seems like 0micron is basically around two thirds less likely to result in hospitalisation than delta. so, these are

of prior immunity through either infection or vaccination. in the last few hou, two early studies on omicron in the u.k. have been published. early data from edinburgh universitys two thirds reduction in the risk of hospitalization from omicron, although the sample of patients studied was small. the second study, imperial college of london, has found people are 40% to 45% less likely to spend the night in hospital compared to the delta variant. peter is an immunologist at imperial college london. i know that you did not work on this particular study, but you can talk us through the findings. what is the message we need to take away from it? >> i think the studies are generally showing that there is a reduction in severity, but that must not make us be fooled into thinking th has mutated into a mild cold. this is still a nasty virus. if you think about it, if the reduction in hospital rate is 50% and is doubling every two days, then just two days of more data would suggest the hospital numbers remain the same. it i not that our hospitals will not see a large surge in case numbers. kasia: that is the numbers inside of it, in the case that it is spreading, number

joining me now is dr christine tait—burkard, research fellow at the university of edinburgh's roslin wn of risk which is obviously pertinent as we move _ which is obviously pertinent as we move to _ which is obviously pertinent as we move to live with this virus that people — move to live with this virus that people also take their own responsibility. i people also take their own responsibility.— people also take their own responsibility. people also take their own resonsibili . , , responsibility. i suppose the bad news is for _ responsibility. i suppose the bad news is for scottish _ responsibility. i suppose the bad news is for scottish businesses l responsibility. i suppose the bad i news is for scottish businesses like the hospitality industry and people cancelling parties and all sorts of social events.— cancelling parties and all sorts of socialevents. , . ., ., social events. exactly. we have also heard that new— social events. exactly. we have also heard that new protection _ social events. exactly. we have also heard that new protection measures which _ heard that new protec

. _ and we'rejoined now by the epidemiologist professor rowland kao of edinburgh university. the last day? well, the first thing to sa is the last day? well, the first thing to say is you _ the last day? well, the first thing to say is you have _ the last day? well, the first thing to say is you have to _ the last day? well, the first thing to say is you have to be _ the last day? well, the first thing to say is you have to be quite - to say is you have to be quite careful about interpreting any single day's figure. however the trend is very, very consistent, which is that we are seeing rates of spread, both in terms of the number of cases and the way, krohn is spreading geographically that we've not seen before, certainly not since very earliest days of the pandemic here in the uk —— omicron. very earliest days of the pandemic here in the uk -- omicron.- very earliest days of the pandemic here in the uk -- omicron. there are some areas — here in the uk -- omicron. there are some areas where _ here in the uk -- omicron. there are some areas where it _ here in the uk -- omicro

and early data from edinburgh university suggests a two—thirds reduction in the risk of hospitalisationor aziz sheikh— what have you found? — since we have got to the core findings here and we have been in the fortunate position of being able to track the entire scottish population so the first is we have seen omicron run through scotland incredibly rapidly in the first case was towards the end of november, november 23 and in the three to four weeks and we have seen its november 23 and in the three to four weeks and we have seen it's become the dominant variant in scotland so it's up to the population very rapidly and the second is the unanswered question that we have been clapping with is what is the risk of severe outcomes and by that we mean covid—19 hospitalisations or deaths in what we have been able to show through analysis to the situation such as age, sex, underlying vaccination status is that with the relatively few cases we have got it seems like omicron is around two thirds less likely to result in hospitalisation so it seems to be a consistent finding across our analysis but

of the pandemic. still, prime minister boris johnson has said no new restrictions will be announced before christmas time. it comes as there's promising news coming from a preliminary pre-print paper from the university off edinburghvariant may be milder. this paper said the risk of hospitalizations was reduced by two-thirds if you compare the omicron variant with the delta variant for those who are double vaccinated. it's giving health officials some hope, but still the fear is that the sheer number, the sheer volume of people positive with covid-19, whatever portion of them winds up in hospital, could still be enough to overwhelm the health care system. >> reporter: i am in bogota, colombia. authorities are closely following the situation on board two cruise ships with multiple covid-19 cases onboard. one of them, the seven seas marina was placed on lockdown yesterday with passengers not allowed to land. but how the situation will evolve onboard those ships will impact the entire travel industry this holiday season. meanwhile in colombia authorities have refused to announce further restrictive measures this christmas despite the country reporting the first three omicron cases on monday. with 40% of the populatio

there are protests going on at universities across the uk, in bristol, in sheffield, in london, in glasgow and edinburgh. joining me is doctorjoe grady, the general secretary ofibly concerned. we i this sector? as a union, we are incredibly concerned. we have | this sector? as a union, we are i incredibly concerned. we have half staff showing signs of probable depression, people are totally burnt out by— depression, people are totally burnt out by workloads often working six days a _ out by workloads often working six days a week, if not more. burnt out staff are _ days a week, if not more. burnt out staff are not — days a week, if not more. burnt out staff are not best for students. even _ staff are not best for students. even the — staff are not best for students. even the student union in themselves called _ even the student union in themselves called working conditions in higher education — called working conditions in higher education "untenable". 0n called working conditions in higher education "untenable". on top of that, _ education "untenable". on top of that, we — education "untenable". on top of that, we have the rampant misuse of precarious _ that

are protests going on at universities across the uk, in bristol, in sheffield, in london, in glasgow, in edinburgh. well, joining me now is drjo grady, who's the general secretary of a union, are incredibly concerned. we have half of staff showing signs of probable depression, people utterly burnt out by workloads, often working six days a week, if not more. burnt out staff are not best for students. even the student union themselves called working conditions in higher education "untenable". and, on top of that, we have the rampant misuse of precarious contracts. 30% of the teaching in universities are done by people not on a secure contract. this cannot continue. this is a sector with {46.8 billion of reserves. they can well afford to pay people properly so that they can live and work with dignity. now, the universities... universities, uk, who represent vice chancellors and the management, say that what you're proposing just isn't doable in terms of the finances. and they're under huge pressure. and they'll have to make cuts elsewhere in places like research or evenjob losses. i think it's really unfortunate that vice chancellors want to weaponise finances, whic