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LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday mentioned that England might stand up to a surge in Covid-19 infections with out shutting down the economic system as Britain reported one other document day by day excessive in instances, fuelled by the Omicron variant.
Johnson has resisted imposing stringent lockdown measures in England, betting {that a} vaccine booster drive and warning among the many inhabitants can be sufficient to constrain the most recent wave.
The UK reported 218,724 new Covid instances on Tuesday, a brand new document for the variety of instances reported on a single day – though a determine that additionally was skewed by reporting lags over the vacations.
Johnson mentioned he was sticking to the “Plan B” measures launched in England final month, which included the sporting of face coverings on public transport and in retailers however didn’t prohibit gatherings or shut companies.
“Along with the Plan B measures that we launched earlier than Christmas, we have now an opportunity to journey out this Omicron wave with out shutting down our nation as soon as once more. We are able to preserve our faculties and our companies open, and we are able to discover a solution to dwell with this virus,” Johnson mentioned.
“However the weeks forward are going to be difficult, each right here within the UK and internationally. There is no such thing as a escaping the truth that some providers can be disrupted by employees absences,”
Johnson has warned that hospitals would face appreciable strain in coming weeks and on Tuesday introduced day by day Covid-19 testing for 100,000 crucial staff.
Whereas admissions have risen since mid-December, they haven’t tracked the trajectory of day by day instances, probably reflecting the affect of vaccines and booster photographs, the probably decrease severity of Omicron and the time lag in folks going into hospital.
Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty mentioned that the mortality price had not risen with the rise in instances, whereas Johnson mentioned that over 60% of individuals in intensive care with Covid had not acquired a vaccine.
Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial Faculty London, mentioned that the sample in hospitalisations could change because the Omicron wave seeps into older age teams.
“Hospitalisations are nonetheless typically going up throughout the nation, and we might even see excessive ranges for some weeks,” he instructed BBC Radio.
“Vaccination is holding up by way of safety towards extreme illness, assisted by the truth that Omicron nearly actually is considerably much less extreme, but it surely nonetheless places pressures on the well being system.”
Johnson has resisted imposing stringent lockdown measures in England, betting {that a} vaccine booster drive and warning among the many inhabitants can be sufficient to constrain the most recent wave.
The UK reported 218,724 new Covid instances on Tuesday, a brand new document for the variety of instances reported on a single day – though a determine that additionally was skewed by reporting lags over the vacations.
Johnson mentioned he was sticking to the “Plan B” measures launched in England final month, which included the sporting of face coverings on public transport and in retailers however didn’t prohibit gatherings or shut companies.
“Along with the Plan B measures that we launched earlier than Christmas, we have now an opportunity to journey out this Omicron wave with out shutting down our nation as soon as once more. We are able to preserve our faculties and our companies open, and we are able to discover a solution to dwell with this virus,” Johnson mentioned.
“However the weeks forward are going to be difficult, each right here within the UK and internationally. There is no such thing as a escaping the truth that some providers can be disrupted by employees absences,”
Johnson has warned that hospitals would face appreciable strain in coming weeks and on Tuesday introduced day by day Covid-19 testing for 100,000 crucial staff.
Whereas admissions have risen since mid-December, they haven’t tracked the trajectory of day by day instances, probably reflecting the affect of vaccines and booster photographs, the probably decrease severity of Omicron and the time lag in folks going into hospital.
Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty mentioned that the mortality price had not risen with the rise in instances, whereas Johnson mentioned that over 60% of individuals in intensive care with Covid had not acquired a vaccine.
Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial Faculty London, mentioned that the sample in hospitalisations could change because the Omicron wave seeps into older age teams.
“Hospitalisations are nonetheless typically going up throughout the nation, and we might even see excessive ranges for some weeks,” he instructed BBC Radio.
“Vaccination is holding up by way of safety towards extreme illness, assisted by the truth that Omicron nearly actually is considerably much less extreme, but it surely nonetheless places pressures on the well being system.”
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