OMICRON imposes reduced staff and opening hours.

The worryingly high number of empty shops on Watford’s high street.

Sadly, the pandemic has hit businesses and traders hard with some forced to close , with some closing as the new OMICRON imposes the start of restrictions of the wearing facemasks in shops and on public transport.

There are also several other units inside Atria lying empty.

Down in Lower High Street, women’s clothing store ‘The End’ has shut permanently and The Money Shop has also closed. Jimmy’s World Kitchen signage is still up but the restaurant has closed.

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Cases of omicron more than doubled in the UK on Friday, after a further 75 infections were detected in England, 16 in Scotland and the first in Wales, now totalling 150.

The latest Covid-19 variant was identified on Nov. 25 by scientists in South Africa and has since been detected in more than 40 countries, including the U.S.

The new variant contains more than 30 changes to the spike protein — the SARS-CoV-2 protein that recognizes host cells and is the main target of the body’s immune responses.

On Thursday in Germany, declared that only those inoculated or who had recently recovered from the virus will be allowed in restaurants, cinemas and many shops.

UK Vaccine decision for children as young as five expected next week.