Photographer: Ben Birchall / PA Wire / Bloomberg
Photographer: Ben Birchall / PA Wire / Bloomberg
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More than a million people in England now have coronaviruses, the British government said, as doctors rush to vaccinate the most vulnerable against the rapidly spreading disease.
Rocket case rates for the new strain of the virus mean that one in 50 people in England now has Covid-19, while in London one in 30 is infected, according to official survey results.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson released the statistics when he promised to speed up the government’s vaccination program, with the aim of removing the latest blockade. He said 23% of all people over the age of 80 in England have been given a dose of Covid-19 vaccine, meaning that some of those most at risk are starting to get the protection they need.
Johnson underscored his promise to vaccinate nearly 14 million people at highest risk and caregivers by mid-February. He said 1.3 million people across the UK had already received the first of two shots.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson says 23% of all people over the age of eighty in England have been given a dose of vaccine. According to the government, one in 50 people now has coronavirus. Johnson speaks at a press conference in London. (Extracts)
But he noted there could be many more months of restrictions ahead, and said current plans to end England’s national closure in mid-February were subject to “many warnings, many yes”. English chief medical officer Chris Whitty said action could be taken next winter, adding: “We shouldn’t be fooled, this just goes away with spring.”
Invisible shield
The prime minister was speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, a day after introducing the country to its third national shutdown since the pandemic began. The rest of Europe is also shrinking under the strain of a resurgent pandemic, with Germany battling high infection rates and struggling to deploy vaccines.
New national restrictions in the UK threaten to push the economy into a double-dip recession, prompting the Johnson administration to announce another emergency support package for businesses worth more than 4.6 billion pounds ($ 6.2 billion).
“You all want to be sure that now, in government, we use every second of this closure to put this invisible shield around the elderly and the vulnerable in the form of vaccination, and so start ending this crisis,” Johnson said. dit. “It simply came to our notice then. It is the largest vaccination program in the history of this country.
Read more about the latest Treasury help package.
He defended his decision to order the country to stay home again and noted the latest infection figures showing record levels of coronavirus in 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 sees the position, people overwhelmingly understand that we have no choice.”
The figure for one in 50 infected people is an estimate based on a massive test survey that aims to find people who have infections but show no symptoms. It is significantly higher than the infection rate implied by the national totals of all positive test results, which are mostly dependent on people to get tested when they show symptoms.
Passenger tests
British officials are in talks about what is needed most to protect the UK from the pandemic, including possible new restrictions on ports and airports on 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 the country and prevent the virus from being readmitted,” he said.
The closure followed warnings from government medical advisers that the National Health Service could be overwhelmed in the next three weeks unless urgent action is taken.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Whitty said that “hope“The new blockade will be enough to control the pandemic. “If people adhere to these rules very strongly and at the same time, the NHS vaccinates as fast as they can, then our hope is that the block will be enough. But we all have to do it. ”
– With the assistance of Joe Mayes, Stuart Biggs, Emily Ashton and David Goodman
(Add comments from Johnson, Whitty on the length of the lock in the fifth paragraph)