The British government has asked public sector managers to test their contingency plans against a worst-case scenario of 25 per cent staff absence as part of efforts to minimise disruption from the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, Reuters reports.

With daily infection numbers at a record high and people who test positive required to self-isolate for at least seven days, the government expects businesses and public services to face disruption in the coming weeks, it said in a statement.

"So far, disruption caused by Omicron has been controlled in most parts of the public sector, but public sector leaders have been asked to test plans against worst-case scenarios of workforce absence of 10pc, 20pc and 25pc," it said.