OMICRON cases have more than quadrupled in the North-East over the last week according to Government figures.

And the NHS regions of the North East and the East of England are showing the highest current absolute growth of Omicron cases, according to the figures released by the Government's UK Health Security Agency.

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On December 15 there were 385 recorded cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in the North East, but this had grown to 2,075 as of Monday.

It means that cases of the more transmissible variant have doubled around every 36-hours in the region.

The figures include cases up to 6pm on December 20 and show that London has the highest number of Omicron cases at 16,081, followed by the South East with 12,288 and the East Midlands at 6,860.

Nationally, there are 56,041 recorded cases of Omicron in England and 129 confirmed hospital patients with the variant.

There have been 14 deaths from Omicron in England as of December 19, according to the Government figures.

Meanwhile, the vaccine roll-out continues at pace with a record 968,665 booster and third doses of Covid-19 vaccine were reported in the UK on Tuesday.

The previous record was 940,606 doses on Saturday.

More than 30.8 million booster and third doses have now been delivered in the UK, with 6.1 million in the past seven days.

The figures have been published by the UK’s four health agencies.

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