MORE THAN 42,000 Omicron cases have been confirmed in the south east, according to the latest figures.

Data from the UK Health Security Agency shows a total of 41,549 cases of Omicron were confirmed in the region up to 6pm on December 29.

This is an increase of 5,439 from the previous day, December 28.

An additional 1,663 'probable' cases have been recorded since yesterday's report, bringing the total number of 'probable' Omicron cases in the south east to 1,811.

READ MORE: What is the Covid situation in Berkshire like now compared to December 2020?

How many Omicron cases are there in Berkshire?

According to the latest report from December 29, 2,656 Omicron cases were confirmed in Berkshire.

Omicron is now considered to be the dominant Covid strain in the UK.

Breakdown of Omicron cases in each area:

  • Bracknell Forest - 426
  • Reading - 577
  • Wokingham - 589
  • Slough - 300
  • Windsor and Maidenhead - 549
  • West Berkshire - 215

How many people in the South East have received the booster vaccine?

What is the Omicron picture across the UK?

According to UK Health Security Agency figures, there have been 181,547 cases of Omicron confirmed in the UK as of 6pm on December 28.

There are a further 94,778 'probable' Omicron cases in the UK as per the latest report, bringing the total number of 'probable' Omicron cases recorded to 486,714.

'Probable' Omicron cases are detected with an S-gene target failure test.

England has the highest number of confirmed Omicron cases in the UK at 181,547.

The region with the highest number of confirmed Omicron cases in England is London, which has 45,245 confirmed cases, and is followed closely by the South East (41,549 confirmed cases).

The region with the lowest number of confirmed Omicron cases in England is the North East, which has 7,637 confirmed Omicron cases.

Wales has the lowest number of cases of any UK region, including regions within England, at 7,369 confirmed Omicron cases.

What is a 'probable' Omicron case and what does S-gene target failure mean?

A characteristic of the Omicron variant is an 'S-gene drop-out' which can be detected in a PCR test at many UK laboratories as soon as the positive case is confirmed.

This is described as an S-gene target failure test, and results are recorded as a separate figure in the official statistics on Omicron cases.

S-gene failure is a much quicker indicator of whether someone is infected with the Omicron variant, as confirming Omicron cases requires further sequencing.