British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that Britain must learn to "coexist with the new crown virus" and will relax epidemic prevention and control measures, according to the Associated Press.
Johnson confirmed on the same day that the UK plans to repeal the law requiring mask wearing and social distancing later this month, although he acknowledged that removing these restrictions would boost the surge in confirmed covid-19 cases. He said britain would have to "learn to live with the virus", which he had previously portrayed as an enemy to be conquered.
Boris Johnson
Johnson said he wanted to stress from the outset that the COVID-19 pandemic was far from over and predicted that by July 19, the number of new confirmed cases in the UK could reach 50,000 per day. But he added that if society cannot be reopened in the coming weeks, then "we have to ask ourselves,' When will we be able to get back to normal?' ’”。
Johnson said legal controls would be replaced by "personal responsibility" as britain entered the final stages of the roadmap to lifting the lockdown. The plan was originally scheduled to take effect on July 19, but Johnson said the final decision would be launched on July 12.
The change means that people in the UK can no longer wear masks after months of mandatory wearing of masks, but in enclosed spaces such as public transport, people are still advised to wear masks. Johnson said he would obviously wear a mask in crowded places, but that was only out of personal courtesy.
The epidemic situation in the UK remains grim
Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said the relaxation of restrictions in the summer was justified because schools were closed, people spent more time outdoors and other respiratory infections were at low levels.
The news was welcomed by britain's ruling Conservative MPs who were skeptical of the lockdown measures. They say the economic and social damage caused by such long-term restrictions outweighs public health interests, and britain's populist media refer to July 19 as "Freedom Day." The performing arts and hospitality industries also welcomed the news.
But public health officials and scientists have urged Britons to exercise caution, saying it could be dangerous to abandon the rules of wearing masks and social distancing altogether. Psychologist Stephen Reicher, a member of the UK Government's Scientific Advisory Committee, said "appropriate mitigation measures" should be taken to deal with the spread of the coronavirus, such as the requirement to maintain masks in crowded places.
Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, said the British government's move was "reckless". "A balanced approach, a proper plan should maintain key protective measures, one of which is wearing masks in closed places and on public transport, which is a common-sense position," he said. ”
But Richard Ted, a virologist at Imperial College London, said easing restrictions while COVID-19 infections were still rampant came with a very real risk of facilitating the spread of mutated viruses that would be more resistant to COVID-19 vaccines and could be more contagious. He said the government did not recognize that it was playing with fire.
The UK has cumulatively reported more than 128,000 COVID-19 deaths, and the number of infections in the UK is on the rise due to the emergence of the more contagious Delta variant virus, first detected in India. Confirmed cases have skyrocketed from about 2,000 per day earlier this year to 25,000 per day over the past week. But the death toll is broadly stable, at less than 20 a day.
Public Health England officials said Britain's vaccination programme weakened the link between infection and death, but did not cut it off. To date, 86% of UK adults have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 64% have been vaccinated. The UK government aims to provide twice a chance to vaccinate everyone over the age of 18 by mid-September.