they have a much younger population who are much less vaccinated. we won't know for several weeks what proportion of cases here will need hospital treatment. the government is not ruling out further measures beyond plan b to control omicron. but no ones yet is using the l—word — lockdown. we absolutely do need to keep everything under review. i think the measures we are taking are proportionate. we recognise the importance of balancing the ability for people to get on with their lives with the need to protect against this virus. but action is absolutely required, and as new data comes in, we will consider what action we do require to take in the face of that data. this is the last news people wanted to hear in the run—up to christmas. we face an anxious wait before we knowjust how big and how serious the omicron wave will be. fergus walsh, bbc news.