Amid surge in infections, U.K. Chief Medical Officer fears resurfacing of Covid-19 crisis sooner
The Chief Medical Officer of England – Professor Chris Witty has warned that British Prime Minister – Boris Johnson’s plan of lifting the last level of Coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions is reckless and has no basis in science.
Johnson is of the view that since 2/3rd of the population is fully vaccinated, they can lift the curbs. Also, he is concerned about the slowing down of economy.
Speaking on the occasion, Witty said, “I don’t think we should underestimate the fact that we could get into trouble again surprisingly fast.”
Witty also said that he fears number of hospital admissions will rise with this. Besides, for the first time since January, 2021, the number of cases reported in a day rose to more than 50,000. In the past 24 hours, U.K. reported 51,273 fresh cases with England alone reporting 46,763 cases. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has said that latest figures from swab tests in the community suggest that one in every 95 people in England has the virus.
As per the data, 67.5% of the British adults had received both the jabs. 87.6% have taken atleast the first jab. The people who are unvaccinated are younger people who have recently been allowed to get vaccinated.
Earlier, Johnson had said, “I wish I could tell you that this pandemic that we’re going through was over, I wish I could say that from Monday we could simply throw caution to the winds and behave exactly as we did before we had ever heard of COVID, but what I can say is that if we are careful if we continue to respect this disease and its continuing menace, then it is highly probable – and on this the scientists are almost all agreed – that the worst of the pandemic is now behind us.”
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care – Sajid Javid today tested positive for COVID-19. This is despite having both the doses of the vaccine.
Taking it to twitter, he tweeted,
This morning I tested positive for Covid. I’m waiting for my PCR result, but thankfully I have had my jabs and symptoms are mild.
— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) July 17, 2021
Please make sure you come forward for your vaccine if you haven’t already. pic.twitter.com/NJYMg2VGzT
The final stage of the four-step plan out of lockdown will see removal of mask-wearing rules, the end of social distancing and the return of large-scale events. The final stage of the Government’s roadmap out lockdown was supposed to come into force in June 2021 but got delayed owing to spike in cases.
Professor Gabriel Scally at the University of Bristol stated what Johnson is doing with a policy of allowing the virus to spread, infect people, make them ill, and have them die.
However, the Governments of Scotland and Wales set their own health policy and will keep in place a legal requirement to wear face coverings in enclosed spaces such as shops and on public transport.
