There's already a notable new variant circulating. It's called Omicron BA.2, sometimes "Stealth Omicron" because it is not as easily identified as Omicron BA.1

There's already a notable new variant circulating. It's called Omicron BA.2, sometimes "Stealth Omicron" because it is not as easily identified as Omicron BA.1. Looking at the UK figures, although there was a Jan/Feb peak, it's not clear that wave is mostly in the past. All the headline figures are currently rising - infections, hospitalisations and deaths - and the infection rate has risen again to nearly where it was at the start of Feb. It may continue past the peak figure in Jan. The start of the new rises coincides with the end of basic restrictions - like wearing masks on public transport and in shops, social distancing, and working at home when possible. Up to that point the figures were dropping. So it looks like strong evidence that something about the restrictions was really working. Politically, new restrictions may be unlikely, but the quite strong circumstantial evidence that they worked, the now rising figures, and the government's plan to stop almost all testing at the end of this month, seem in stark contrast to the government's prior "follow the science" line.