LONDON (AP) – The British are urged – though in most cases not required – to cover their faces in crowded confined spaces. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson appears periodically in the crowded and stuffy House of Commons, shoulder to shoulder with other unmasked Conservative lawmakers.
For critics, this image reflects the problem in the government’s strategy, which has abandoned most of the restrictions of the pandemic and has opted for voluntary moderation and a high vaccination rate to curb coronavirus infections.
As winter approaches, with the risk of a new rally in COVID-19, the lack of restrictions distinguishes Britain from other more cautious countries.
“The history of this government in the pandemic is too little, too late,” said Layla Moran, an opposition lawmaker for the Liberal Democratic Party who leads the all-party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus.
Moran claimed that some British hospitals already have the number of virus patients in intensive care that they would expect in the dead of winter, although the daily rate of total hospital admissions is about a fifth of the January peak.
And while cases rose with the lifting of restrictions in the summer, deaths did not keep pace. But the cold months, when respiratory illnesses tend to hit the hardest, could pose an additional challenge.
“Unless the government starts to do something different, I don’t think we’re going to be able to avoid the worst this winter,” Moran said.
The government claims that its plan has worked so far and can change course if necessary.
Britain has recorded more than 135,000 coronavirus deaths, the highest number in Europe after Russia and around the same per capita figure as the United States. However, it has also organized a successful vaccination campaign, with 65% of the titular population immunized.
That relatively high rate led the Johnson administration to determine in July that it was safe to lift restrictions on business activity and daily living – no demands for social distancing, meeting limits or face masks anywhere in England. Businesses can impose their own measures, but otherwise Johnson has urged people to “be sensible.”
In contrast to many European countries – even some with higher vaccination rates – in England people do not need to show that they are vaccinated to eat in restaurants, attend mass events or enter crowded venues such as nightclubs. Scotland, which is part of Great Britain but sets its own health standards, is being more cautious and has introduced nightclub vaccine passports, as well as maintaining the order to wear masks indoors.
Pupils and teachers in English schools do not have to cover their faces, despite objections from trade unions and public health officials, a contrast to countries such as France, Italy and Spain, which have kept masks mandatory in schools.
While the United States has made vaccinations mandatory for millions of workers, the Johnson government only requires vaccination for nursing home staff and is considering it for healthcare workers.
Britain once had one of the strictest travel rules in Europe, but starting next month it will ease quarantine and diagnostic testing rules for many travelers.
Often times, the country has gone on its own during the pandemic, for example by extending the wait between doses to speed up the vaccination campaign or delaying injections for children between the ages of 12 and 15, eventually reducing them to one dose.
The Johnson administration has counted on vaccines to do most of the fighting against the virus, complemented by voluntary “common sense” behavior.
But after a long and exceptionally strict quarantine this year, it is not clear that the British will freely choose any preventive measure that is not mandatory. When the restrictions were lifted, just under two-thirds of Britons said they planned to wear a mask in shops or on public transport. Now the number of people wearing face masks has dropped dramatically on the London Underground, which requires its use but barely monitors it.
Critics say the government has not learned from experience and appears to act more out of optimism than evidence.
Moran, the opposition lawmaker, and others believe that moderate measures such as improving ventilation in schools and wearing masks could avoid tougher measures in winter.
But the government notes that the most pessimistic predictions by experts, who said cases could reach 100,000 a day by the time schools reopen in September, have not come true.
Britain now records about 140 deaths a day, just a tenth of its worst rebound – and 30,000 new cases a day.
Johnson said restrictions like mandatory face masks and telecommuting orders could be reintroduced if hospitalizations rise, but he was confident they wouldn’t be necessary.
“The result of this vaccination campaign is that we have one of the freest societies and one of the most open economies in Europe,” he said. “And so now we stick to this strategy.”
Beside him at the press conference, Scientific Advisor Patrick Vallance issued a warning. “If this evolves in the wrong direction … it is important that measures are put in place fast enough and significant enough,” he said.
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