First UK death recorded with Omicron variant

At least one person in the UK has died with the Omicron coronavirus variant, the prime minister has said.

Boris Johnson said the new variant was also resulting in hospital admissions and the "best thing" people could do was get their booster jab.

Visiting a vaccination clinic in London, he said people should set aside the idea Omicron was a milder variant.

On Sunday, the PM set a new target for all adults in England to be offered a booster by the end of the month.

On Monday, Mr Johnson said people needed to recognise "the sheer pace at which [Omicron] accelerates through the population"....The NHS website crashed on Monday after more than 110,000 people tried to book their booster before 09:00 GMT, the government said.

There have also been long queues at walk-in centres and new orders for lateral flow tests on the government website have been temporarily suspended due to high demand. ...

ALSO SEE: Britain battles Omicron 'tidal wave,' as infections double every two to three days and first death from variant is recorded