London, October 21 (Xinhua) -- Roundup: England has been fully unsealed for more than three months, and the epidemic has attracted high calls from the medical community
Xinhua News Agency reporter Guo Shuang
According to the epidemic data released by the British government on the 21st, the number of confirmed covid-19 cases in the UNITED Kingdom exceeded 50,000 for the first time on the 21st, which is the highest number of new cases in a single day since England announced the full lifting of the lockdown on July 19. The UK health community has called for "overwhelming evidence" that stricter measures should be taken. However, the British government said it would not change the current epidemic prevention strategy at present.
On 19 July, the English region carried out the final phase of "unsealing". On 4 October, the UK government announced a significant relaxation of entry policies in England and the simplification of entry TESTs to boost tourism recovery. The local governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland decided what controls to take, and these areas gradually adopted more relaxed anti-epidemic policies this summer.
Since July 19, the number of new cases in the UK in a single day has not changed much from before the "unsealing", and it has declined for a while. But since October, the number of daily cases in the UK has remained above 30,000. Since mid-October, this figure has repeatedly exceeded 40,000. Data from the 21st showed that the number of new confirmed covid-19 cases in the United Kingdom on the same day was 52,009, which was the ninth consecutive day of daily increase in confirmed cases of more than 40,000 cases, with a cumulative confirmed 8641221 cases; 115 new deaths, 139146 cumulative deaths.
British Health Minister Javid pointed out on the 20th that the new crown epidemic is far from over, and people may see that the number of new confirmed cases of new crown in the UNITED Kingdom in a single day is as high as 100,000. Jenny Harris, chief executive of the Health Security Agency, said on the same day that the current number of rising COVID-19 deaths in the UK was "moving in the wrong direction".
British Prime Minister Johnson said on the 21st that although the number of daily new crown cases is very high, the current epidemic situation is still roughly consistent with the government's forecast model, so it will still adhere to the current epidemic prevention strategy; because most people in the UK have been vaccinated against the new crown, the current epidemic situation is much better than 12 months ago; the British people should be vaccinated as soon as possible before the winter, and people aged 12 to 15 should be vaccinated as soon as possible. The data shows that more than 86% of people over the age of 12 in the UK have been vaccinated with at least one dose of COVID-19 and around 79% have received two doses of the vaccine.
However, UK healthcare professionals have called for the government to move to Plan B of the COVID-19 Response: Autumn/Winter Plan, which is a back-up plan in the event of a serious deterioration, including mandatory wearing of masks in some places, advising people to work from home, and some large event venues may require admission to show vaccination certificates.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Federation, said: "Overwhelming evidence suggests that we do need to act. He urged the government to resume anti-epidemic measures such as mandatory wearing of masks in public places, and called for urgent measures to alleviate the pressure on medical institutions.
Chandler Nag Paul, chairman of the Board of Governors of the British Physician Association, noted that the government had taken no further action to reduce the infection, which was "deliberately created negligence". Catherine Henderson, dean of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said the winter presented a major challenge to health services and that the government needed to recognize the potential crisis...
Media such as sky news websites quoted British health experts as saying that although the new crown vaccine can effectively reduce the number of severe cases and deaths, the British government insists that the current relaxed epidemic prevention policy does not consider several key factors. First, vulnerable groups such as the first to be vaccinated are at risk of vaccine efficacy starting to wane; second, this winter will be the season when COVID-19 spreads simultaneously with other seasonal respiratory diseases such as influenza; and third, pressure on the health care sector is increasing. Some experts point out that taking action before the situation gets worse is the best way to deal with it.
Steven Boyce, director of national medical affairs of the British National Health Service, said a few days ago that as the new crown infection rate in the UNITED Kingdom rises, the number of hospitalizations will continue to increase, in addition to the spread of other viruses such as influenza viruses, which will increase the pressure on medical staff.
In fact, the health care system in some places has begun to face greater pressure. According to new data released by the National Health Service of England, 5.7 million people were on the daily visit waiting list of UK hospitals at the end of August, the highest figure since 2007 was recorded. The Royal Cornwall Hospital raised its operational level on the 21st, and its medical director, Alist Grant, said that the demand for healthcare services in Cornwall, where the hospital is located, is unprecedented, and this week the demand is "more than at any time during the epidemic".
The UK is one of the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The UK's first COVID-19 investigation report released by the House of Commons of the British Parliament on the 12th pointed out that the UK failed to take more measures to stop the spread of the new crown virus in the early stages of the pandemic, which is one of the country's worst public health failures.
Source: Xinhua Net