Oxford Street is empty of shoppers as the national coronavirus three continues to close.
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Britain has begun reducing cases of the most infectious South African variant of coronavirus and will only step out of the blockade in stages to make sure that doesn’t change, the country’s health secretary said on Sunday.
A day before Prime Minister Boris Johnson laid out his plan to ease restrictions in England, Hancock said there were also early data showing that faster-than-expected vaccine deployment would reduce transmissions and alleviate pressure on hospitals.
Britain has the fifth worst official death toll in the world for COVID-19, with 120,365 fatalities, but an early push to secure the supply of mass vaccines means one in three adults has had a first shot and mortality rates daily allowances have begun to decline.
Hancock said in total that the UK had recorded around 300 cases of the most infectious South African variant of the disease caused by COVID-19.
“But most of these are now historical cases and from more than a month ago,” Andrew Marr told the BBC. “The latest data shows that there are about a dozen new ones, so there are a much, much smaller number.”
England has also introduced quarantine hotels to prevent variants from traveling abroad.
To date, Britain has administered a first dose of vaccine to 17.2 million people, more than a quarter of its 67 million people and only behind Israel and the United Arab Emirates in per capita vaccines.
The government said on Sunday that all adults in Britain would be offered a first dose in late July, with the aim of giving a first dose to all over the age of 50 on April 15th.
But despite the improved outlook, Hancock and leading epidemiologist John Edmunds said the restrictions should be eased gently and in stages, to see what impact increased human movement has on the virus.
Hancock suggested that each relaxation could take a couple of weeks to detect the impact, before another part of the economy can be reopened. Schools are expected to return first in early March.
Edmunds said it was difficult to say how far the South African variant was spread, but that, like the rest of the pandemic, it remained in place by closure.
“The risk comes when we release the blockade,” he said, adding that allowing the virus to circulate in healthier young people could lead to new mutations that undermine the vaccine program.
Johnson will set out his thinking on easing the blockade on Monday. Despite pressure from a section of his party’s legislators who have been surprised by the 10% contraction in the economy by 2020, the prime minister is expected to be suspicious.
“There should be no doubt: the way out of the closure will be prudent and gradual, as we all continue to protect ourselves and those around us,” Johnson said in a statement.