Niti Aayog's Dr. VK Paul on Friday said a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic is being experienced in Europe with a steep rise in cases.
His comment came hours after the United Kingdom recorded its highest single-day surge in COVID-19 cases since the pandemic outbreak.
A total of 88,376 new cases were reported, up from 78,610 cases 24 hours earlier, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 11,097,851, according to official figures released on Thursday.
Another 1,691 Omicron cases have been found in Britain, the biggest daily increase since the COVID-19 variant was detected in the country, taking the total Omicron cases found in the country to 11,708, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed on Wednesday.
The country also reported a further 146 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 146,937, with 7,579 COVID-19 patients still in hospital, Xinhua news agency reported.
England's Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty has advised people to prioritise events that matter to them in the run-up to Christmas.
Whitty said the record for daily hospital admissions for COVID could be broken in the coming weeks, urging people not to "mix with people you don't have to."
It is likely that COVID-19 vaccines and anti-viral drugs will do "almost all of the heavy lifting" when it comes to tackling future strains -- unless they are "extremely different," he added.
Meanwhile, scores of schools and colleges across Britain are closing early for Christmas, while others are preparing for further disruption and possible closures in 2022 as the Omicron variant sweeps the country.
(With IANS inputs)
