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More than 1 million people in England now have coronavirus, the British government said, as doctors race to vaccinate the most vulnerable against the rapidly spreading disease.
Ascending The number of cases of the new virus strain means that one person in 50 in England now has Covid-19, while in London one in 30 is infected, official research results show.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed the statistics when he pledged to speed up the government’s vaccination program to eventually lift the latest blockade. He said 23% of all over 80s in England have now received a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, meaning some of those most at risk are starting to get the protection they need.
Johnson underscored his pledge to vaccinate nearly 14 million highest-risk people and caregivers by mid-February. He said 1.3 million people in the UK had already received the first of two admissions.
But he pointed out that there are many more months of restrictions ahead, saying the current plans to end England’s national lockdown in mid-February were subject to “many caveats, many ifs”. England’s chief physician, Chris Whitty, said measures could be taken next winter, adding, “We shouldn’t kid ourselves, this will just go away with spring.”
Invisible shield
The prime minister spoke at a press conference on Tuesday, a day after putting the country in its third national lockdown since the start of the pandemic. The rest of Europe is also collapsing under the pressure of a resurgent pandemic, with Germany is fighting high infection rates and is having difficulties rolling out vaccines.
The new national restrictions in the UK threaten to push the economy into a double dip recession, prompting the Johnson government to deliver a new package of emergency aid to businesses, worth more than £ 4.6 billion ($ 6.2 billion).
“You all want to make sure that we in the government are now using every second of this lockdown to put that invisible shield around the elderly and the vulnerable in the form of vaccination, and thus begin to end this crisis.” says Johnson said. “Yes, it is an enormous effort. It is the largest vaccination program in the history of this country. “
Find out more about the Treasury’s latest aid package.
He defended his decision to order the country to stay home and pointed to the latest infection figures record levels of coronavirus among the population. “The number of patients in hospitals in England is now 40% higher than at the first peak in April,” he said. “When everyone looks at the position, people overwhelmingly understand that we have no choice.”
The figure of one in 50 people infected is an estimate based on a massive test survey that aims to find people who have infections but no symptoms. It is significantly higher than the infection rate implied by the national totals of all positive test results, which usually depend on people looking for tests when they show symptoms.
Passenger testing
UK officials are in talks about what more is needed to protect the UK from the pandemic, including possible new restrictions at ports and airports for non-essential travel. At the press conference, Johnson said a new testing regime will be introduced. “We will take steps to ensure that we test people entering this country and prevent re-uptake of the virus,” he said.
The lockdown followed warnings from National Health Service government medical advisers could be overwhelmed within the next three weeks unless urgent action was taken.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Whitty said: “hopeIs that the new lockdown will be enough to get the pandemic under control. “If people stick to those rules very strongly and at the same time the NHS vaccinates as soon as possible, then ours hope the lockdown will be sufficient. But we should all do that. “
– With help from Joe Mayes, Stuart Biggs, Emily Ashton and David Goodman