Corona numbers in Great Britain threaten to "explode" - ministers with worrying prognosis

Once again, the UK is in focus in the fight against the coronavirus.

Did Freedom Day come too early?

British doctors are concerned.

London - The most recently published corona figures from Great Britain are worrying.

On Tuesday (October 19), 223 coronavirus-related deaths were reported in the UK, according to official figures.

The number of new corona infections every day has also leveled off around almost 50,000 in the past few days.

In addition, almost 1,000 new hospital admissions were registered every day.

The British Medical Association sounded the alarm on Thursday (October 21).

Corona in Great Britain: Medical Association sounds the alarm - "Deliberately negligent by the government"

The British Medical Association (BMA) is calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government to reintroduce corona rules.

"It is deliberately negligent of the government in Westminster not to take any measures to contain the infection, such as the mandatory wearing of masks, keeping your distance and ventilation in high-risk environments, especially confined indoor spaces," said BMA chairman Chaand Nagpaul in a statement quoted.

On Wednesday (October 20), British Health Minister Sajid Javid initially refused to return to corona measures in England at a press conference.

Javid warned that the number of new infections every day could soon exceed 100,000.

But the minister is of the opinion that the National Health Service (NHS) is still in control of the situation "at this point in time".

Corona in Great Britain: Medical Association contradicts Health Minister Javid

BMA boss Nagpaul sees it differently - and calls for a return to Plan B. So the reintroduction of the corona measures such as mask compulsory and distance rules, which were abolished in England with "Freedom Day" on July 19 against the advice of many experts.

"As first-line doctors, we can absolutely say that this point has now been reached," said Nagpaul.

Because health in the UK is a matter of different parts of the country, there are different rules in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

While England has lifted almost all restrictions, some corona measures still apply in the rest of the country.

Despite the alarming developments in the United Kingdom, the British government is still planning without stricter corona rules.

But with an intensification of vaccination efforts.

One particularly wants to start with the stagnant third-party corona vaccination for young people and the elderly.

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In England's public transport system - like here on the London Underground - not everyone wears a mask.

© Matt Dunham / dpa

Corona in Great Britain: New virus variant AY.4.2 is spreading - how dangerous is "Delta plus"?

Meanwhile, a new virus variant is also causing great concern in the British Isles. "A new delta subline called AY.4.2 is on the rise in England," read the October 15th virus variant report from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), part of the UK Department of Health. Accordingly, the weekly share of the virus variant AY.4.2 (also called Delta-Plus), which also occurred in Austria, was around six percent in the corona cases in England from September 27th. And the trend is clearly upwards.

The Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge is following the development and change of the coronavirus on a scientific basis.

According to the institute's findings, the delta plus share in England has recently doubled.

While this was still four percent in September, it has now risen to nine percent (with data collection up to and including October 9th).

Caution should be exercised, according to professionals such as Jeffrey Barrett, director of the Covid-19 Genomics Initiative at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, and Francois Balloux, director of the Genetics Institute at University College London.

According to the

the

two scientists are of

the opinion that AY.4.2 is probably between ten and 15 percent more contagious than previously known Delta variants.

However, Balloux

also

restricted the

.

"That's nothing compared to what we saw at Alpha and Delta," said the scientist.

These were "about 50 to 60 percent more transferable" than the virus variants known at the time.

(kh)

List of rubric lists: © Matt Dunham / dpa