The high infection rates from the COVID Omicron variant have had a dampening effect on the U.K. shopping scene around Christmas weekend, a report from Financial Times said.
The report said footfall was down 45% as compared with Boxing Day 2019, per data from Springboard.
In Central London, the data showed one in 20 people had been infected with Omicron.
That led to a 67% decrease in shopping numbers from the 2019 levels.