There are now 11 cases of the new Omicron variant across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, including some suggesting the virus is now transmitting in the community.

The new variant, which was first identified in South Africa, is now spreading in the area but with only a small number of cases so far.

Lucy Hubber, Public Health Director for Nottingham, said during a media briefing about Covid 19 on Friday (December 10) there are currently nine cases in the city.

Jonathan Gribbin, Public Health director for Nottinghamshire, added there are currently two cases in the county.

Mrs Hubber said: "Those nine cases are not all connected to a single event – so that does support the idea of people picking it up from a number of different sources."

There are no current cases of patients with the new variant in Nottinghamshire hospitals at this moment in time, according to the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group.

Mrs Hubber added: "These are small numbers but actually those confirmed cases are probably a higher number of cases in the community that have not yet been confirmed.

"At the moment the response is being led by the UK Health Security Agency and we thank them for the tremendous work they have done in terms of helping us with contact tracing and giving advice and support.

"We have got lots to learn about Omicron – but there are some things we already know about it. It is much more transmittable than the Delta variant.

"That means it can be easily passed on between people. At the moment we are seeing it predominately in younger aged people and they are experiencing relatively mild illness.

"We don't know the effects when it moves into our older populations but regardless of that the more cases we have the more chances we have of people becoming seriously ill. And that puts more pressure on our NHS."

Mr Gribbin added: "Omicron spreads much more easier than the Delta variant and we have in Nottinghamshire already evidence of community transmission where there is no travel history.

"We are observing a doubling of cases nationally of the variant every two to three days. It is spreading very fast."

Public Health bosses stressed that people should get their jabs as well as boosters and adhere to restrictions including wearing face coverings on public transport.

New measures will reintroduce the requirement to work from home 'if you can', from Monday (December 13).

They also mean a return of masks in most indoor public spaces including theatres and cinemas from Friday, and from Wednesday use of the NHS Covid Pass – proving vaccination status or a negative lateral flow test – for entry to venues such as nightclubs.