A year ago, Omicron was making waves across the country as ministers made masks compulsory again in shops and on public transport to try and stop Christmas being ruined by another lockdown.
December 25 was able to go ahead without restrictions on family gatherings in the end and, since then, coronavirus has diluted in terms of the amount of press attention it gets and the numbers of people infected has decreased.
But Omicron mutations are back and thought to be behind an uptick in Covid-19 cases in recent months — although levels are well below what Britain experienced last winter and even in the summer months just gone.
