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Infections caused by the new variant Omicron are rising rapidly, doubling every two to three days.
Modelling is warning hospital admissions could rise sharply.
Ministers across the UK are under pressure to bring in tougher measures.
There are strong arguments for those, but there are also reasons why trying to do more to suppress Omicron may not be worth it.
Much has been made of suggestions that this variant is causing milder illness. In South Africa, reports are emerging that people are not as seriously ill in this wave as they were in earlier ones.
There is still uncertainty about this. But it is logical. Not because the virus has changed to become less severe, but because reinfections and infections post-vaccination are likely to be milder.
The immune system now recognises this virus and while it may not be able to prevent infection, it knows how to fight it.
"The balance of evidence," says Prof Paul Hunter, an expert in infectious diseases at the University of East Anglia, "certainly points to that."
If so, that puts the UK in a strong position to be able to deal with this wave.
Around 95% of the adult population has some immunity to the virus either through infection or vaccination or both, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine published at the start of winter before Omicron emerged said such high levels of immunity meant we had the smallest pool of vulnerable people in Europe.
On top of that there is now the impact of the rapid rollout of boosters, which research suggests are vital to blunting the impact of Omicron.
Around 60% of those eligible have had one including nearly 90% of the most vulnerable.
Read more- https://www.bbc.com/news/health-59658486