EDINBURGH, Scotland – It’s only been a few weeks since people in the UK were planning a relatively normal Christmas time with their families due to the relaxed rules of the pandemic. Now, with the variant of mutant coronavirus that fuels an almost vertical growth in the new daily cases, huge parts of the country start the new year, being hit again in the hardest of blockages.
The speed of change was amazing and terrifying. By the end of November, following a nationwide blockade in England, the number of cases in the UK had dropped to around 13,000 a day. Now, the country has registered more than 50,000 cases for six days in a row.
By comparison, England has reported 476.9 cases per 100,000 people in the last week – a rate nearly five times lower than California, the worst-hit U.S. state, which, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has 98, 8 cases per 100,000. The message to the world seems clear – the new version is spreading faster and, without strict preventive measures, this will happen to you too.
British growth comes despite the planned relaxation of Christmas, the abandonment of schools, the closure of Christmas and the largest city, London, in the last level of blockade for two weeks. Experts have been warning for weeks that the new variant is spreading so fast that the rules that could have been applied last year are no longer enough. Political leaders are now struggling to figure out how to overthrow him or deal with a catastrophe.
Scotland came first. His decentralized nationalist government had already closed the border with England after Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that the new option was taking place in the south. On Monday, the Prime Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, announced a blockade as strict as the one in the spring. Her message – stay home and keep the kids out of school, otherwise we will end up as cheated as England.
Sturgeon estimated that Scotland is now about four weeks behind England’s growth, but the new rules – which require Scots by law not to leave their homes but for a few essential purposes – are designed to prevent the country from escaping. control like neighbors. Scotland has 188.3 cases per 100,000, less than half of England’s rate over the past seven days, according to government figures.
Meanwhile, Johnson has been under intense pressure for prevarication, while cases in England have seen peak after peak. This could end on Monday, as the prime minister is due to address the nation and warned that the measures will be tightened. It is not clear, however, exactly what the new action will be.
Asked what takes him so long to do something, Johnson said: “What we are waiting for is to see the impact of level four measures on the virus and it is unclear right now. But if you look at the numbers, there is no doubt that we will have to take tougher action and we will announce them in time. “
Health Secretary Matt Hancock acknowledged that the rules that have worked since the spring blockade are no longer strong enough.
Even more worrying, however, is Hancock’s belief that the new British variant may not be even the greatest threat facing an already overwhelmed nation. He said Monday that he was “incredibly worried” about a South African variant that was considered even more transmissible than the British one – and two cases were confirmed in the UK.
Hancock told the BBC on Monday: “This is a very, very significant issue … even more so than a problem than the new UK version.”
One reason for this concern may be that British experts have openly questioned whether current vaccines will work on the mutant in South Africa. John Bell, a professor at Oxford University and government adviser on vaccines, said there was a “big question mark” over whether existing vaccines would work on the South African version.
It is clear that the UK is in a bad situation – what is much less clear is whether this is as bad as it will get, whether there will be enough new measures to control the mutant virus and what is happening. if he grabs an even worse one.