Prime Minister Boris Johnson urges the British to be cautious after the lifting of almost all corona measures in England.
Experts warn of danger to the whole world.
London - The incidence is rising and rising, the number of infections is dramatic *: Despite all the warnings from science, there have been hardly any corona measures in England since Monday, July 19, 2021 *.
Neither the mask requirement nor distance rules or numerical restrictions for events are now required in the largest British part of the country.
Country: |
Great Britain |
Head of Government: |
Boris Johnson |
Capital: |
London |
Surface: |
242,495 square kilometers |
Residents: |
66.8 million |
The incidence in Great Britain rose again on Monday, from 441.4 on Sunday, July 18, 2021 to 465.6 on Monday, July 19, 2021. There were 47,848 new infections in the United Kingdom and 28 people died.
And as if all of that wasn't enough, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had to say goodbye to a one-week quarantine on Sunday after a long meeting with Health Minister Sajid Javi, who tested positive despite the vaccination *.
Incidence value Great Britain: Despite warnings, almost all corona measures in England fell on Monday
Despite all these warning signals, almost all Corona measures in England are a thing of the past this Monday.
From now on, Prime Minister Boris Johnson relies on the individual responsibility of the people in England.
But according to experts, there is currently a risk in London that the situation could get out of control despite the high vaccination rate.
In the past week, more than 50,000 cases were registered almost every day - almost as many as at the height of the second wave at the turn of the year in December and January.
Above all, the delta variant of the corona virus is causing problems for the British *.
The mutation of the virus, which was first discovered in India, now determines almost 100 percent of the infection rate in the British Isles.
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As of today, there is no longer a mask requirement in the English part of the United Kingdom.
© picture alliance / dpa / PA Wire |
Yui Mok
In the course of this, trade unions and employers' associations in England spoke out in favor of maintaining the mask requirement and at the same time ending the obligation to self-isolate for vaccinated contact persons.
The city administration in London wants to keep it that way *.
In England today the mask requirement falls: union warns of "Chaos Day" instead of "Freedom Day"
The reason for the end of self-isolation is simple: This is already causing bottlenecks in many industries, especially in transport companies.
Mick Lynch, chairman of the union “The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) warned that“ Freedom Day ”could become“ Chaos Day ”.
To make matters worse, Prime Minister Johnson did not set the best example at the weekend: He wants to avoid self-isolation.
His finance minister, Rishi Sunak, is also trying to do this.
At the weekend, both had contact with Minister of Health Sajid Javid, who is sick with Covid-19 despite two corona vaccinations.
The reason given on Sunday morning was that both Johnson and Sunak were taking part in a pilot project that provides for daily testing instead of self-isolation.
Less than three hours later, after a nationwide outcry - after all, hundreds of thousands of Britons are currently sitting at home asking for self-isolation - the government rowed back.
Johnson found himself in self-isolation at his country estate Checkers, it was suddenly said.
Incidence in Great Britain: Johnson turns to the population via video from self-isolation
Johnson sent a video message to the English population from his country estate.
As an excuse that he “thought briefly” about participating in the pilot project, Johnson said in the video: “But I think it's much more important that everyone obeys the same rules. July go into self-isolation. "
In Johnson's opinion, the high vaccination quota in the country is sufficient to offer adequate protection against the virus even without further measures.
Around 88 percent of people over the age of 18 in the UK have already received their first vaccination, and just under 69 percent have already received the second dose.
"The massive vaccination program has weakened the link between infection and hospitalization and between infection and serious illness and death," said the British Prime Minister.
Scientist and epidemiologist Neil Ferguson warns of 100,000 new infections per day in the UK
But in the meantime, doubts are being raised as to whether the vaccinations will actually be sufficient to really withstand another wave of infections.
In any case, the epidemiologist Neil Ferguson from Imperial College in London expects the mark of 100,000 new infections per day to be exceeded.
According to him, it is "almost inevitable" that this will happen soon.
"The real question is whether it will be twice as much, or even more," Ferguson told the British TV broadcaster BBC on Sunday.
He reckons that measures will have to be taken again to get the pandemic under control when the number of hospital admissions hits between 2,000 and 3,000.
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A year ago, Piccadilly Circus in downtown London went: nothing.
As of today, almost all corona measures in the English part of Great Britain will be dropped.
(Symbol image)
© picture alliance / dpa / XinHua |
Tim Ireland
Johnson really wants to prevent that.
He had always described his country's path out of lockdown as "cautious but irreversible".
"Please, please, be careful," he pleaded with the British.
Whether he can still convince with this seems questionable.
Incidence in Great Britain: Scientists declare herd immunity as "hopelessly failed"
Words of warning do not come from science just before the door closes.
1200 scientists had already written a joint letter to Boris Johnson.
In it they criticized his plans as "dangerous and premature".
There was a virtual summit especially for this on Saturday.
There, the New Zealand professor of health care, Michael Baker, was amazed at the easing of the British government.
One has probably returned to a "herd immunity approach", but this has already "failed hopelessly" all over the world.
During the summit, fears were raised that there might be many imitators of British politics.
As one of the leading US virologists and ex-Havard professor William A. Haseltine emphasized, Great Britain has always been looked to for great and sensitive politics in the past, but this has changed during the pandemic.
Haseltine is driven by concerns that some US states might follow Britain's lead.
In England today the mask requirement falls: Falling Corona measures on Freedom Day could become one for the whole world
In addition, Haseltine described the herd immunity strategy as "murderous".
Haseltine accused the British government of so knowingly risking the lives of tens of thousands of people.
In view of the increasing number of infections and the spread of the delta variant, a scenario that could have far-reaching consequences - by no means only for England, but the corona policy could pose a threat to the whole world.
It is fitting that leading scientists and government advisors believe that the British are heading towards a new pandemic disaster on their own initiative.
UK incidence: "I am absolutely sure we contributed to Delta's rise"
“Every mutation that can infect people who have been vaccinated has a great selection advantage and can spread,” said Professor Christina Pagel from the research team at UCL London at a virtual summit of leading figures.
“And because of our position as a global travel hub, any variation that becomes prevalent in the UK is likely to spread to the rest of the world - we've seen it at Alpha, and I'm absolutely certain we contributed * to the rise of Delta. "
Due to the new Covid infections, Freedom Day could become Chaos Day
The easing only applies to the largest British part of the country, England, which has no government of its own.
The regional governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are responsible for their own health policies.
And yet Freedom Day could become Chaos Days not only in Great Britain, but possibly for the whole world.
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List of rubric lists: © picture alliance / dpa / PA Wire |
Yui Mok
