The first two UK cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant have been identified, one of which was in Nottingham, near the Lincolnshire border.

• Two cases of COVID-19 with mutations consistent with B.1.1.529 identified in the U.K.
• Individuals and their households are self-isolating and contact tracing is ongoing
• From 04:00 Sunday, November 28, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Angola will be added to the UK’s travel red list

After overnight genome sequencing, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed that two cases of COVID-19 with mutations consistent with B.1.1.529 have been identified in the UK. 

The individuals that have tested positive, and all members of their households, are being re-tested and told to self-isolate while further testing and contact tracing is underway.

One case has been located in Chelmsford and the other in Nottingham.

The two cases are linked and there is a link to travel to Southern Africa. UKHSA is carrying out targeted testing at locations where the positive cases were likely to have been infectious. 

In addition, in line with updated advice from the UKHSA, from 4am Sunday Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Angola will be added to the travel red list. Travellers who have returned from these four countries in last 10 days must isolate and get a PCR test. UKHSA are following up recent arrivals from these countries.

This adds to the six countries placed on the red list on Friday. 

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid said: 

“Thanks to our world class genomic sequencing we have been made aware of two UK cases of the Omicron variant. We have moved rapidly and the individuals are self-isolating while contact tracing is ongoing. 

“We will do all we can to protect the UK public against this emerging threat and that is why we are surging testing capacity to the impacted communities and introducing travel restrictions on a further four countries: Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Angola. We will not hesitate to take further action if required. 

“This is a stark reminder that we are not yet out of this pandemic. Getting the vaccine has never been more important – please come forward for your first jab if you haven’t already and if eligible, book your booster as soon as possible.”

Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said:

“We will continue to work closely with the international community to quickly gather and analyse information on this variant to understand any possible increase in transmissibility or resistance to vaccines.

“It is important that everyone takes sensible precautions – get a PCR test if you have symptoms, isolate when asked, wear a face covering in crowded and enclosed spaces, ventilate rooms, get your vaccine and boosters as soon as you can.”

Dr Jenny Harries, Chief Executive of UKHSA, said:

“We have identified these cases thanks to the UK’s advanced sequencing capabilities which means we are able to find variants and take rapid action to limit onward spread. We are particularly grateful to public health colleagues in South Africa for early sharing of information on the Omicron variant to support global health security.

“We are continuing our efforts to understand the effect of this variant on transmissibility, severe disease, mortality, antibody response and vaccine efficacy.

“If you have any COVID-19 symptoms you must isolate and get a PCR test immediately 

“It remains vital to come forward for vaccination, wear a face covering in crowded places and try to meet people in well-ventilated areas.”

From 04:00 on Sunday, November 28, non-UK and Irish residents who have been in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Angola in the previous 10 days will be refused entry into England. This does not apply to those who have stayed airside and only transited through any of these countries while changing flights.

UK and Irish residents arriving from 04:00 Sunday, November 28, must isolate in a government-approved facility for 10 days. During their stay, they will be required to take a coronavirus PCR test on day 2 and day 8.

About B.1.1.529 Omicron

The UKHSA designated variant B.1.1.529 as a variant under investigation (VuI) on Thursday 25 November. In response, the government announced that six African countries – South Africa, Botswana, Lesostho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia – would be added to the red list.

The B.1.1.529 variant includes a large number of spike protein mutations as well as mutations in other parts of the viral genome. These are potentially biologically significant mutations which may change the behaviour of the virus with regards to vaccines, treatments and transmissibility.

The 20th Lincolnshire Food & Gift Fair takes place at Lincolnshire Showground this weekend, featuring more than 150 stalls who will be showcasing a range of delicious treats and great gift ideas.

It will be open from 9am-5pm on Saturday, November 27 and between 9am-4pm on the Sunday, while car parking is free. Tickets are available on the gate for £6 each and children under five can enter for free.

The event, which is organised by the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society, welcomes visitors between the EPIC Centre and an outdoor marquee, with more than 30 brand-new exhibitors.

The Lincolnite went for a tour on the members’ evening on Friday, so you know what to expect this weekend:

As well as the stalls, there are children’s activities in Santa’s Workshop, and The Lincolnshire kitchen with top chefs and producers sharing their tops tip, including Fiona Lucas from Lincolnshire Cookery School and Anis Falina from Makan Bites.

There will also be live performances from a number of talented local choirs, while there will also be various delicious hot food stands.

Artistic and creative products will be available and at stalls including Art Monster Studios, The March hare and Vivified Ceramics.

Foodies can look out for businesses including Tiffin & Co Bakehouse, Oh La La Fries, Fudged Up, and The Oink Company.

The famous Santa’s Workshop area will be ready to provide hours of free entertainment, including new additions – interactive Christmas sessions provided by Debutots and cake decorating hosted by The Back Garden Gallery.

Santa’s Baking House features cookery workshops from Treats, Sweets & Eats, 42nd East Bakehouse and Riseholme College.

Visitors are also asked to bring an unwrapped toy or gift and place it in the provided Santa’s sack, all of which will be donated to the Bridge Church to support the local community this Christmas.

Meanwhile, the vaccination site at Lincolnshire Showground will be closed temporarily between Friday and Sunday (November 26-28) to allow for the return of the Festive Food & Gift Fair.

A family liaison officer for Lincolnshire Police who has worked on around 60 murder cases in the East Midlands region said she lights a candle every year for a nine-year-old Lincoln child, one of many incidents that has stayed close to her heart.

Lorraine Speight, 53, worked in uniform on the streets of Lincolnshire before moving to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) as a detective.

She has been part of the force’s Major Crime Unit, working as a detective and a family liaison officer (FLO) for around 10 years, which includes cases of murder, attempted murder and kidnap.

It’s been an incredibly busy year for Lincolnshire Police. In July, the Major Crime Unit were dealing with seven active Lincolnshire investigations at once.

Lorraine, like her fellow family liaison officers, is involved with victims’ families all the way through, including with post-mortems and the “upsetting minefield” of the court case, so she can be with them for up to a year and some stay in touch after.

She said they meet some of the nicest people in the world, who are “suddenly thrust into this big nightmare and are absolutely lost”.

When a nine-year-old child was killed by a family member in Lincoln around seven years ago, Lorraine was the family liaison officer for the family and said that incident “will stay with me forever”.

She said: “When it comes to his anniversary, this little boy loved lights and candles, and every year I light a candle.

“That one will stay with me forever. There’s several that will stay with me forever, it was just so sad. I got to know the mum. The mum had another child and her strength throughout was amazing.

“There have been a lot of tears and it makes you very grateful for your children. I can’t speak for others as they will have their own coping mechanisms, but I will go to my mum and dad’s, I don’t discuss the case, and we’ll just have a cup of tea and talk stupid things, normally about my dog.

“My husband is very supportive, I don’t tell him the details, but he knows when it’s hard.

“I will go and sit in a quiet place and have a few tears, then hopefully I’m strong enough for the next day to pick up what the family need me to pick up.

“And that lady wanted to show me a video of her little boy and I couldn’t help it, I cried all the way through the video, but actually she needed somebody to be human.”

She added: “We’re painted as these people that as soon as you leave the office, it’s gone — no it’s not gone at all, you take it with you. You’re always constantly thinking about it.

“You’re also thinking about what’s next. Because bear in mind, sometimes they can’t go and see their loved one until after the post-mortem, so you’ve got to arrange that to go and see them.

“You don’t turn off, there isn’t an off switch when you leave our office.”

The mother-of-two is currently working with a family in Lincoln and is seeing them once a fortnight and making contact weekly, while she is also involved in the recent Boston murder investigation following the disappearance of Ilona Golabek.

She was also one of the inquiry officers for a few days in the early days of the Roberts Buncis investigation and said the other officers did a “sterling job”.

Lorraine told The Lincolnite how difficult it can be not to get emotionally attached, especially in cases involving children.

She said: “You can be professional in front of the family, and you can be stone faced in front of the family all you like, but I have got into a car and I have sobbed my eyes out.

“We try not to cry in front of the family. It’s not our place, it’s not about us, its about the family. But we have been to the mortuary to see children with family members.

“Myself and another family liaison officer who was with me took it in turns to step out because we had a few tears, the family don’t want to see that. But that said, some families do want to see that. They don’t want to see you as a robot, they want to see that you’re human.

“I’ve had family members show me videos of their loved ones, because they want to show me this person when they were alive. That’s difficult not to take home.

“I personally went into it because I wanted to help, it is one of the most rewarding roles.”

Lorraine was one of three family liaison officers, along with Beth Wimot and Christopher Dixon, who were commended for their care and professionalism for their work on the investigation of the double murders of Elizabeth Edwards and her 13-year-old daughter Katie in Spalding.

They were murdered by Elizabeth’s daughter Kim and her boyfriend Lucas Markham, who were both 14 at the time. The couple, who are believed to be Britain’s youngest double murderers, were jailed for life back in November 2016.

Lorraine was the family liaison for the oldest daughter who lives further away and made several trips to see her. She also got to know the family and met up with Elizabeth’s partner. She said she helped him during the court process and it was “so difficult to watch him go through it.”

She said: “It is still a case I think about now, because they were such a lovely group of people that were just lost by it all.

“You can only do your best, you can’t wave a magic wand, you can’t take their pain away. To watch people going through that pain, you would not be human if you didn’t feel something about them.”

Explaining her role as a family liaison officer, Lorraine said: “Your main role is evidence gathering. However, there is not one family liaison officer that I know that wouldn’t be supporting the family.”

“We will be allocated to a family, normally in our role, the family of a murder victim, and that is your role on that enquiry, especially at the start of it, you’re pretty much with them 24/7 for the first few days.

“Your role actually is part of an investigator, you are the in between the senior investigating officer who’s in charge of the overall murder, and you are the one that’s in between him and the family.”

“Anything he wants to know from that family, you get that information from them, sometimes you get it just having a chat. Sometimes you will take them, you will interview them, and do video interviews and things like that.

“You also are responsible nine times out of 10 for identifying the victim. So you will take the family to the mortuary and you will identify the victim. The mortuary isn’t a place for families to say goodbyes.

“Unfortunately, in our job, when it’s a murder investigation, sometimes they don’t get their family member back for six to eight weeks. So it’s the only place to say goodbye because of obviously how things go with time.

“So by the time they get their loved one back, sometimes you can’t have an open coffin or anything like that. So we also do that side of it, we take the identification for the coroner, and for the senior investigator to make sure it’s the right person, if that’s feasible.”

Lorraine said that her phone is on 24 hours a day and families she is supporting can contact her for anything.

Her husband and grown up children, who are now 26 and 29, can tell when she is having a difficult day and continue to be a great support to her.

She said: “It’s our role to explain to them what’s going to happen. Some families can’t take that in, the grief and the nightmare that they’ve been forced into, so they can ring me at two o’clock in the morning because they’re not sleeping. And they’ll say, ‘I remember you said this earlier. Can I just ask you…?'”

Lorraine and her colleagues in the Major Crime Unit are also trained in disaster victim identification for incidents, such as a train wreck, and her colleague was the family liaison officer for a Lincolnshire family affected by the Tunisia shootings.