British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on Sunday that there are likely to be tougher lockdown restrictions in England in the coming weeks as the country new coronavirus variant that has pushed infection rates to their highest recorded levels.
However, Johnson insisted that he “had no doubt” that schools are safe and urged parents to send their children back to class in areas of England where they can. Unions representing teachers have called on schools to learn from a distance at least a few weeks longer because of the new variant, which scientists say is up to 70% more contagious.
The UK is facing an acute outbreak and registers more than 50,000 new ones coronavirus infections per day for the past six days. On Sunday, it recorded a further 54,990 cases, slightly lower than the previous day’s daily record of 57,725. The country also recorded an additional 454 virus-related deaths to bring the total to 75,024. According to figures from Johns Hopkins University, the UK is alternating with Italy as the most affected European country.
“We are fully reconciled to do whatever it takes to get the virus under control, which could bring tougher measures in the coming weeks,” Johnson said in an interview with BBC News. “Obviously there are a series of tougher measures we should consider.”
Johnson admitted that school closures, curfews and a total ban on household mixing could be on the agenda for areas of the most stress.
London and South East England are facing extremely high numbers of new infections and it is speculated that restrictions there will need to be tightened to get the virus under control. In some parts of the UK capital and surrounding areas, there are more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 people.
Johnson’s conservative government is using a tiered coronavirus restriction system. Most of England is already at the top Tier 4 level, which means that stores that don’t sell non-essential items and places like gyms and recreation centers, as well as a stay-at-home instruction, are closing.
“What we’re using now is the tiering system, which is a very difficult system, and unfortunately will probably become more difficult to keep things under control,” he said. “We will review it and we have the prospect of vaccines in the tens of millions getting on track and literally offering people life and hope.”
Keir Starmer, the leader of the main opposition Labor party, urged Johnson to introduce further national restrictions the next day, though he stopped calling for schools to close, saying he “ didn’t want to add anything to the chaos “that will likely emerge Monday.
“The virus is clearly out of control,” said Starmer. “We cannot allow the prime minister to use up the next two or three weeks and then bring about a national lockdown, which is inevitable.”
Starmer also said it is inevitable that more schools will close and urged the government to come up with a plan for both students and working parents.
One area that the UK has moved quickly is the vaccination front. It was the first to vaccinate people over 80 and health workers on December 8 with the Pfizer-BioNTech Coronavirus Vaccine. Last week, regulators approved another vaccine, made by the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, that is cheaper and easier to use than the Pfizer vaccine.
Hundreds of new vaccination sites will be operational this week as the National Health Service ramps up its immunization program with the Oxford-AstraZeneca injection. Officials say there will be about 530,000 doses of the new vaccine on Monday as the country achieves its goal of vaccinating 2 million people a week as soon as possible.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will be administered in a small number of hospitals for the first few days, so authorities can monitor for any side effects. Hundreds of new vaccination sites – in both hospitals and local doctor’s offices – will be launched this week, in addition to the more than 700 already in operation, NHS England said.
In a shift in practices in the US and elsewhere, Great Britain plans to give people a second dose of both vaccines within 12 weeks of the first injection, rather than 21 days, in order to maximize immunizations in as many people as possible. speed up as quickly as possible.
“My mother, as well as you or your older loved ones, may be affected by this decision, but it is still the right choice for the nation as a whole,” said Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief of medical services. , said in an article for the Mail on Sunday newspaper.