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On Monday, the cabinet minister downplayed the likelihood that the lockdown would end completely before July 19, but hopes were raised that those who have been double vaccinated will soon no longer have to isolate themselves if they come into contact with carriers. of Covid-19.
After the government abandoned “Freedom Day” on June 21, the latest data showed a slowdown in the spread of the Delta (India) variant and hospitals saw only a small increase in coronavirus patients.
This more optimistic picture raised hopes that all restrictions could be lifted on July 5 in a mid-way review of the one-month extension of the restrictions. However, Commerce Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said it was “unlikely” that the shutdown would go out of service before July 19.
He told Sky News: “I would always err on the side of caution and look to July 19. It could be earlier, but I think it is unlikely. We have generally stuck to the dates we have set. I think now I’m very focused on July 19.
Matt Hancock was less emphatic about the July 19 date. The Government could act even more quickly if the data for the next few days continue to show no cause for alarm.
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It also gave a strong signal that doubly vaccinated people who come into contact with someone with Covid-19 could soon avoid having to self-isolate. The Health Secretary said he wanted to see a new system in which people who have received two doses of the vaccine and who are then “pricked” for having come into contact with a coronavirus carrier undergo daily tests rather than self-isolate. .
Such a change would end frustrating interruptions in many people’s lives and prevent many employees from being able to go to work as they have to isolate themselves.
Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast: “We are testing that approach… to verify that it is effective, but it is something we are working on.
“We are not ready to take that step yet, but it is something I want to see and we will present it, subject to clinical advice, as soon as it is reasonable to do so.”
Provisional figures show that 75,137 first and second doses were administered on Saturday as mass vaccination centers opened across the capital, including the Chelsea, West Ham and Charlton football fields.
Now more mass vaccination events are planned for the next few weeks, with Arsenal hosting a four-day clinic offering thousands of Pfizer hits at the Emirates Stadium from Friday to Monday. In other developments:
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said hospital admissions were “slowly rising” but nothing like the rates seen during previous waves, with 1,170 coronavirus patients as of Friday, up from 800 on April 4. June, but compared to 34,000 in the second. peak earlier this year.
Professor Anthony Harnden, vice chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, said the flu could be a “bigger problem” than Covid-19 this winter.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today program: “We have had a very, very low prevalence of the flu over the past few years, particularly near zero during the shutdown, and we know that when the flu has been circulating in very low amounts, immunity it falls into the population, and comes back to bite us ”.
Hancock said the government was working on Covid’s booster jab program and should have clinical data in the coming weeks.
Another 886 Covid cases were announced for the capital on Sunday, down from the figures of more than 1,000 in recent days. Nine counties saw their seven-day Covid rate surpass 100 new infections per 100,000 in the week through June 15.
They were Lambeth, the highest at 128.2, followed by Wandsworth 120.7, Hammersmith and Fulham 113.4, as well as Southwark, Kensington and Chelsea, Camden, Islington, Tower Hamlets and Merton. The increase was particularly driven by an increase in cases among young people aged 20 to 24 who have a rate of 250.8 to seven days. Yesterday’s hit count, including 44,924 first doses and 30,213 second doses, is expected to be revised upward as more data is recorded in the coming days.
Vaccinations carried out at Tottenham’s stadium are expected to increase Sunday’s figures, which were released later on Monday.
Yet the daily average remains stagnant below the 100,000 a day needed for London to meet the prime minister’s national goal of offering a jab to everyone over 18 and having two-thirds of adults vaccinated by July 19. .
As of Saturday night, 1,931,028 first doses and 1,362,543 second doses still had to be administered to keep the capital in line with national targets, which means that around 110,000 daily injections must now be administered.
Yet five million of the 6.9 million adult Londoners have taken a first hit, and nearly 50 per cent have taken both. The strategy of allowing many Londoners to ‘come in’ to take a hit, without needing an NHS number or to prove their immigration status, appears to have increased in acceptance.
Mayor Sadiq Khan, who visited the vaccine center at Stamford Bridge Stadium in Chelsea, said: “The vaccine is a game changer in our fight against this virus, and now we are in the final push. I can’t stress enough how crucial it is that all Londoners over 18 get out and get vaccinated as soon as possible, and that everyone makes sure they get their second dose. “
It came about when the woman who received the world’s first Covid puncture outside of testing conditions urged others to get vaccinated. Margaret Keenan received her dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine at Coventry University Hospital on December 8.
The 91-year-old told BBC Breakfast: “Whatever you thought before, please give it the jab. There is none of that. Don’t be afraid of a needle. It is only to save your life and save other lives.
He added that “it felt very important to do so” and that at that time he hoped that it would “get under way” to launch the vaccination program.
Ms Keenan said she wanted to do it not just for herself but for “everyone and the NHS.”
Six months after that first puncture, more than 40 million people in the UK, or three-quarters of the adult population, joined her for a first dose of vaccine.
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