Two UK cases of the omicron Covid variant detected, says Sajid Javid

The first UK cases of the omicron Covid variant were confirmed on Saturday, as ministers planned to impose travel restrictions on further countries where the mutation has been identified.

Two people in Essex and Nottinghamshire have been found to have tested positive for the new variant, with officials carrying out mass testing in affected areas to identify further cases.

The cases, in Chelmsford and Nottingham, were identified after overnight genome sequencing. The two individuals who tested positive are being re-tested and told to self-isolate in the meantime, along with all members of their households, while contact tracers track others they may have infected. Officials said the two cases were connected and that there was "a link to travel to Southern Africa."

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