Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the incubation period is of the omicron covid-19 variant prior to someone being symptomatic.

The average incubation period for COVID-19 is five to six days. Individuals can infect others from around two days before symptoms start. It is therefore important to continue to follow government guidance on isolation if a close contact of a COVID-19 case.

There is currently insufficient evidence to suggest that the incubation period for Omicron is different to other variants.