The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Bloomberg
The UK government will develop contingency plans to help companies and supply chains avoid disruptions from staff absences due to Covid-19, the Financial Times (FT) reported, citing the Cabinet Office.
The government has identified a range of staff-support measures, including former teachers for schools and volunteers in the public sector, the newspaper said. It has asked private businesses to test the plans against a worst-case scenario of as much as 25% in workforce absences, according to the report.
UK Cabinet Office Minister Steve Barclay will lead regular meetings to monitor the impact of the omicron variant on workforces and company
operations, the FT reported.
As people return to work following the Christmas break, the high transmissibility levels of Omicron mean business and public services “will face disruption in the coming weeks, particularly from higher than normal staff absence,†the newspaper cited Barclay as saying.
UK Meets Vaccine Booster Target
Boris Johnson urged holdouts to get Covid-19 vaccine boosters, as growing pressure on the UK National Health Service (NHS) threatens to undermine his strategy to get through the omicron wave.
Close to one-third of eligible adults in England have yet to receive a top-up dose, according to a statement from the government, even as it said it met its target to offer all adults a booster by the end of the year. The UK’s other devolved nations make their own health policy.
The government has acknowledged that supplies are coming under pressure, due to growing demand both in the UK and around the world.
The prime minister has repeatedly pointed to the vaccine rollout as his rationale for not imposing tougher pandemic restrictions to slow the tide of Omicron cases.
Johnson said this week about 90% of people hospitalized with Covid have not had a booster shot.
But his plan to keep the economy close to restriction-free is coming under pressure from the sheer number of coronavirus infections fuelled by Omicron, which while milder, is starting to translate into rising hospital admissions.