Two weeks after a new variant of Covid-19 discovered in the UK was reported, the British authorities face the difficult challenge of containing a new wave of infections.
In that line, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, announced that it plans to tighten restrictions in the country given the rebound in cases in recent days, which on Saturday reached a historical record of almost 58 thousand new infections. Deaths, meanwhile, rose to 445 in the previous 24 hours, reaching 75 thousand deaths and more than 2.6 million cases since the start of the pandemic.
“We have to examine this situation constantly, but they will not direct us political motivations, but public health issues”Johnson told the BBC.
Despite the fact that more than a million Britons have received the first dose of the Pfizer / BioNtech vaccine and that the Oxford University and AstraZeneca vaccine will be administered in the country starting today, three-quarters of the population has been reconfined, and the return to school has been postponed in the most affected areas.
The British premier warned that the new strain was being especially damaging in London and the south-east of the country, so exceptional measures had to be taken in some areas. Thus, he assured that he is considering a “spectrum of tougher measures”, which include the closure of schools, although “it is not an option that we want to address.”
The picture is repeating itself in Germany. Speaking to the private channel RTL, the Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, asked to extend the restrictions that have been in force in his country since December 13.
The current measures, which initially apply until Sunday, January 10, seek to reduce the weekly incidence to 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. However, current figures from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) are not very encouraging.
According to his report yesterday, the current weekly incidence is 140 infections per 100,000 inhabitants. Although this number represents a decrease compared to the figures of December 13 – when the weekly incidence was 169 cases per 100,000 inhabitants – it is still well above the level considered critical by experts and authorities.
The RKI yesterday reported 10,315 new cases and 312 deaths from the virus reported in the previous 24 hours. In total, Germany registers more than 1.7 million infections and exceeds 35 thousand deaths due to the pandemic.
In addition, the effect that the end of the year holidays will have on the infection figures is still unknown. The institute’s president, Lothar Wieler, feared that the celebrations would contribute to the increase in cases due to family encounters, which often involve travel within the country.
Although there is technically no lockdown in Germany and people can leave their homes, restaurants and most shops are closed. The schools, meanwhile, had to advance their Christmas holidays, which would end on January 10. However, the federal states that have been hardest hit by the pandemic want children to have classes from their homes instead of face-to-face from that date.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and regional leaders are expected to agree to extend the restrictions at their meeting Tuesday, although for how long is not yet known. Some of the most affected states have asked for a three-week extension, while the least affected have been in favor of extending the measures for two weeks.
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