Almost all the local authorities with the highest Omicron cases are in London, new figures have revealed.
A report by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) showed that eight out of the top 10 areas for the highly-contagious COVID variant were in London.
Boris Johnson recently announced new restrictions and increased the target for booster vaccinations over concerns that Omicron could overwhelm the NHS as coronavirus cases rise.
The UKHSA said that as of December 8, the South East London borough of Lewisham had the most Omicron cases in the capital with 16 confirmed.
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It was closely followed by Newham which has 14 Omicron cases.
The other London boroughs in the Omicron top 10 were: Croydon and Hackney both had 10, and Ealing, Merton and Soutwark each had nine cases.
Elsewhere in the country, West Northamptonshire was the worst affected by far with 39 confirmed Omicron cases, while Buckinghamshire had 12.
There are over 4,000 confirmed Omicron cases across the UK, but the real number is likely to be much higher as cases spread rapidly.
The variant now makes up 44 per cent of all COVID cases in London, and it is expected to account for the majority of cases by the end of December 15.
Although it has not been confirmed if the new variant is more deadly than other form of coronavirus, it spreads much faster and has caused a rapid rise in cases across the UK over the past week.
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