COVID cases are rising and there’s a new strain – what if I catch it at Christmas?

Published

1 year ago

December 18, 2023

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The festive season may bring back memories of Christmas COVID waves gone by.

While restrictions were in place in 2020 and 2021, many were forced to spend Christmas Day alone or isolated from loved ones.

In the latter part of this year, virus levels decreased month-on-month, but positivity rates have crept up again with increased social mixing in the run-up to 25 December.

And a sub-lineage of the so-called “Pirola” variant – JN.1 – has been spreading, with the UK Health Security Agency sub-categorising it on 4 December due to its spike protein mutation and “increasing prevalence within the UK and international data”.

In the absence of restrictions, with COVID circulating again, Sky News looks at current virus levels and what the guidance is for those who catch it over the Christmas break.

COVID rates rising

The latest data, which covers the week ending 9 December, shows COVID cases increasing by 39% on the previous week.

COVID positivity rates increased to 7.5% in England for the week ending 14 December, from 6.4% the previous week. Flu positivity also increased significantly from 2.4% to 5.6% that week.

The reversal of previously low virus trends is the inevitable result of more indoor gatherings during the festive period, scientists tell Sky News.

Professor of innate immunity at the University of Cambridge, Clare Bryant, says people have become “complacent” about COVID – despite “lots of people having it at the moment”.

“There are lots of other germs around as well – flu is circulating and other colds,” she says.

Professor Nicolas Locker, a virologist at the Pirbright Institute, adds: “We’re going to see a fairly large rise in cases this winter.

“Not because the newer JN.1 sub-lineage is more problematic or severe, but because we’re losing our defences – protections afforded by our last set of boosters, and our immunity is waning.”

What should you do if you get COVID at Christmas?

Symptoms of COVID, flu, and other respiratory infections are “very similar”, according to the NHS.

They include: a continuous cough; high temperature, loss or change in sense of taste or smell; shortness of breath; unexplained tiredness; muscle aches; loss of appetite; headache; sore throat; runny or stuffy nose; and diarrhoea or vomiting.

If you have several symptoms but cannot access a COVID test, the NHS advises you to stay at home and avoid contact with other people until you feel better or no longer have a high temperature if you have one.

It is particularly important to avoid close contact with anyone high-risk – the elderly, clinically vulnerable and their carers, and pregnant women.

If you do have to leave home, the guidance suggests you “wear a well-fitting face covering made with multiple layers – or a surgical mask”, avoid crowded or poorly-ventilated spaces, cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough, wash your hands regularly, and avoid touching your face.

If you do a COVID test and the result is positive – official guidance recommends avoiding contact with others for five days after the day of your test for adults and three days for children.

You should also avoid meeting any clinically vulnerable people for 10 days after you take your test.

Over the Christmas period, this would mean isolating in a different room to elderly or vulnerable visitors – or asking them to stay at home instead.

What is JN.1 and how widespread is it in the UK?

JN.1 is a sub-lineage of the BA.2.86 Omicron variant.

It was first detected in Luxembourg in August, before spreading to the US, UK, France and other countries.

Its parent was first detected in Denmark in July, with the first BA.2.86 cases appearing in the UK in August. It is sometimes referred to as the “Pirola” variant – but the World Health Organisation hasn’t given it an official name, as it is still a type of Omicron.

JN.1 has one mutation in its spike protein (which dictates how easily it can infect our cells) compared to BA.2.86. But there are several other mutations elsewhere.

The latest genomic sequencing data, up until 21 November, shows it as the fastest-growing variant in the UK – with a weekly growth advantage of 84%, followed by its parent BA.2.86 at 23% and JD.1.1 (a sub-lineage of the XBB variant) at 22%.

JN.1 mutations will ‘probably make it more infectious’

Prof Bryant describes the various mutations in JN.1 as “interesting”, including some unseen since the Alpha and Beta variants in 2020 and 2021.

She says the changes are likely to mean JN.1 evades our immune systems more easily – and replicates faster.

“The change in the spike protein will probably correlate to it being more infectious,” she adds.

“And that’s what’s caused us the most problems so far – because you can’t control something that’s that infectious.”

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Professor Sheena Cruickshank, immunologist at the University of Manchester, agrees and adds that it could take longer to recover from – or cause more severe disease.

“One of the mutations JN.1 seems to have has the potential to help it better latch on to cells, making it better at infecting us,” she tells Sky News.

“That coupled with immune evasion mechanisms mean it may be tricky for our immune systems to get rid of.”

Professor Locker says, however, that so far there has been no indication of increased disease severity.

“I think we’re just seeing the natural evolution of COVID and I don’t think there’s anything right now we should be overly worried about,” he says.

“These are very small changes in comparison to the ones between Omicron and the previous set of variants. And we haven’t seen a change in symptoms or severity.”

Vaccines still likely to be effective against it

Prof Locker says that another reason not to be too concerned about JN.1 is vaccine protection.

Vaccines given as part of the current booster rollout have been updated to protect against the XBB.1.5 Omicron variant, which has also been proven to work against JN.1’s parent BA.2.86.

Prof Cruickshank adds that “by inference” this should also mean current vaccines work well against JN.1.

But all three scientists point to low vaccination levels as a more general cause of concern.

Now only the over 65s, care home residents, carers, health and social care workers, and the clinically vulnerable can get booster jabs on the NHS.

And of those groups, only around 50% are taking up the offer, meaning vaccine protection is relatively low.

UK

Premier League clubs at risk of legal action over unlicensed casino sponsors

Published

7 hours ago

May 25, 2025

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Premier League clubs at risk of legal action over unlicensed casino sponsors

Casinos sponsoring two Premier League clubs are accepting UK customers without a licence, putting club officers at risk of prosecution, Sky News has learned.

The gambling websites, BC.Game and DEBET, are the matchday shirt sponsors of Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, respectively.

But an investigation by anti-gambling advert campaigners, shared with Sky News, suggests the casinos have continued to accept UK customers – despite this becoming unlawful after they lost their licences to operate in the UK.

DEBET lost its licence on 15 May, while BC.Game lost its licence in December 2024.

Neither club has indicated that they intend to end the sponsorships, despite criticism from campaigners and warnings from the Gambling Commission.

With the end of the 2024/25 season this weekend, both clubs are now half-way through two-year sponsorship deals with the casinos – putting them in a difficult position for next season.

The campaign group Coalition to End Gambling Ads (CEGA) told Sky News it was able to make deposits on both gambling websites, despite the sites having no licence to accept UK customers.

CEGA also successfully deposited cash on Burnley FC sponsor 96.com. Burnley are due to be promoted to the Premier League next season.

The findings come one week after the Gambling Commission warned five football clubs, including Wolverhampton and Burnley, that their officers “may be liable to prosecution and, if convicted, face a fine, imprisonment or both if they promote unlicensed gambling businesses that transact with consumers in Great Britain”.

The Commission had issued a similar warning to Leicester City in February.

It made clear then that the clubs must either cut ties with the casinos or ensure they are not accessible to UK customers “by any means” – including virtual private networks (VPNs) – software used to hide a user’s real location.

Other than the need to use a VPN, CEGA director Will Prochaska says it “really wasn’t very difficult” to access the sites.

The Gambling Commission declined to be interviewed by Sky News, but said that “where we have evidence that meets the standard for criminal prosecution we will take appropriate action”.

Head of enforcement at the Commission John Pierce previously said the body would “conduct ongoing spot checks as necessary to ensure they are not accessible to consumers in Great Britain by any means”.

Mr Prochaska, however, said the Commission was taking “far too long” to take action.

“Far too many children, far too many football fans, are seeing these adverts every day,” he said. “It’s got to stop.”

Leicester City’s sponsor has had no UK licence for almost six months

The three sites that appear on the matchday shirts of Leicester, Wolves and Burnley were previously licensed by TGP Europe, a company based on the Isle of Man.

On 15 May, TGP Europe surrendered its UK gambling licence to avoid a £3.3m fine, leaving DEBET and 96.com unable to legally accept UK customers.

Leicester City sponsor BC.Game has been unlicensed in the UK since it parted ways with TGP Europe in December 2024 – almost six months ago.

Mr Prochaska said he contacted Leicester City on 13 March to alert them that BC.Game was still accepting UK customers.

“In fact, it was one of the easiest for me to gamble on – there were very few checks whatsoever,” he says. “But Leicester don’t seem to have done anything about it, and it’s still on the front of their shirts.”

Leicester City FC did not respond to a request for comment.

Sky News was able to sign up to every single site

Bournemouth, Fulham and Newcastle United are also sponsored by casinos that were formerly licensed by TGP Europe, but have been unlicensed since 15 May.

These casinos (bj88, SBOTOP and FUN88) are no longer able to legally accept UK customers.

However, Sky News was able to use a VPN to sign up to all three casinos, as well as those sponsoring Leicester City, Wolverhampton and Burnley.

On all six websites, Sky was able to access QR codes for making cryptocurrency deposits. Sky News did not attempt to make any deposits.

All six casinos are forbidden by law from accepting UK customers.

Yet Burnley sponsor 96.com allowed Sky News to sign up using a Telegram account registered to a UK phone number.

The other websites all required phone numbers to be entered upon registration, which could be used as an additional layer of security to filter out UK customers.

However, most of the websites did not check whether the phone number provided was genuine.

Only one website, Leicester City sponsor BC.Game, did check.

However, after confirming the phone number’s authenticity, BC.Game allowed registration to proceed – even though Sky News had provided a UK phone number.

Sky News presented these findings to the football clubs concerned, to TGP Europe and to the Gambling Commission, but did not receive any comment.

Anyone concerned about their gambling, or that of a loved one, can visit BeGambleAware.org for free, confidential advice and support, or The National Gambling Helpline is available on 0808 8020 133 and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

UK

Former BBC executive and presenter Alan Yentob dies

Published

7 hours ago

May 25, 2025

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Former BBC executive and presenter Alan Yentob dies

Alan Yentob, the former BBC presenter and executive, has died aged 78.

A statement from his family, shared by the BBC, said Yentob died on Saturday.

His wife Philippa Walker said: “For Jacob, Bella and I, every day with Alan held the promise of something unexpected. Our life was exciting, he was exciting.

“He was curious, funny, annoying, late, and creative in every cell of his body. But more than that, he was the kindest of men and a profoundly moral man. He leaves in his wake a trail of love a mile wide.”

Yentob joined the BBC as a trainee in 1968 and held a number of positions – including controller of BBC One and BBC Two, director of television, and head of music and art.

He was also the director of BBC drama, entertainment, and children’s TV.

Yentob launched CBBC and CBeebies, and his drama commissions included Pride And Prejudice and Middlemarch.

The TV executive was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the King in 2024 for services to the arts and media.

In a tribute, the BBC’s director-general Tim Davie said: “Alan Yentob was a towering figure in British broadcasting and the arts. A creative force and a cultural visionary, he shaped decades of programming at the BBC and beyond, with a passion for storytelling and public service that leave a lasting legacy.

“Above all, Alan was a true original. His passion wasn’t performative – it was personal. He believed in the power of culture to enrich, challenge and connect us.”

BBC Radio 4 presenter Amol Rajan described him on Instagram as “such a unique and kind man: an improbable impresario from unlikely origins who became a towering figure in the culture of post-war Britain.

“I commend his spirit to the living.”

UK

Mother and three children who died in house fire in London named by police

Published

8 hours ago

May 25, 2025

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Mother and three children who died in house fire in London named by police

A mother and three of her children who died in a house fire in northwest London have been named by police.

Warning: This article contains pictures of a fire in which people died

Detectives say Nusrat Usman, 43, Maryam Mikaiel, 15, Musa Usman, eight, and Raees Usman, four, died following the fire in Stonebridge, near Wembley, in the early hours of Saturday.

A woman in her 70s was taken to hospital but has since been released. A 13-year-old girl remains in hospital in a critical condition.

A 41-year-old man was arrested at the scene and has since been bailed. He was subsequently detained under the Mental Health Act.

Flowers and a blue teddy bear have been left near the scene, where crews wearing helmets and respiratory equipment were seen building scaffolding against the burnt-out buildings.

Neighbour Cecilia Marquis, 60, said she was “stunned by the devastation”.

“This will leave a devastating impact,” Ms Marquis, who witnessed the fire, said.

Witness Mohamed Labidi, 38, said he “can’t even look at the house right now”.

“We used to socialise together.

“They’re very good people, no problems on their side at all. It’s really shocking. It’s a really strong community here, we look after each other.”

A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: “It’s horrible, we saw people running outside.

“It’s hard to process. I only just moved in, so it’s hard to think about it.”

Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters responded to the blaze, London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.

Two terrace houses, each with three floors, were severely damaged in the fire, which was under control by around 3.25am, the fire service added.

Superintendent Steve Allen, from the Met’s local policing team in northwest London, said: “Our thoughts go out to all those impacted by what has happened.

“Specialist officers are continuing to support the wider family who have asked for privacy at this deeply upsetting time.

“Local officers are working closely with officers from the Specialist Crime Command on what continues to be a very complex investigation.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said in a post on X: “This is devastating news and my thoughts are with the family, friends and wider community of the four people who sadly have lost their lives.

“I remain in close contact with the London Fire Brigade and Metropolitan Police as they work to establish the cause of the fire and offer support to all those impacted.”

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