Javid warns that Covid cases can reach 100,000 daily in the UK

British Health Minister Sajid Javid warned that he was facing a last chance to avoid the reinstatement of coronavirus restrictions this winter as he took booster jabs and urged people to pay more attention.

A sharp change in tone from the government at the first Downing Street pandemic press conference five weeks later warned that the current case rate could double to 100,000 per day.

However, he refused to succumb to pressure to rejuvenate the government’s “Plan B.” This is a series of fallback measures that confirm the return of mandatory face masks and advice for working at home, along with a vaccine passport. “We are not at that point yet,” he said.

Health leader Called the government Immediately activate “Plan B” to avoid the NHS winter crisis. Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of the NHS Confederation, which represents the healthcare organization, said:

His comments were the same as those of Sir Patrick Valence, Chief Scientific Advisor, who urged the government to “work hard and go early” last month if the incident began to surge.

Whitehall insiders said the government is unlikely to consider invoking Plan B by mid-November, at which point the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow will end.

Authorities by then, Booster dose And half-year breaks in school begin to control infection rates. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is desperate not to end what Havid described as “freedom” from Covid’s restrictions.

During that time, Mr Javid said, “There’s a lot we can do, such as wearing a face cover in a crowded or tight space,” but most Tory lawmakers didn’t do so in the House of Commons on Wednesday. rice field.

Infections have increased rapidly across the UK in recent weeks. A total of 49,139 new cases were reported across the UK on Wednesday, an increase of 15% from the same day last week. 954 deaths were reported in the week leading up to October 20, one-fifth more than in the previous week.

Javid warned that health services are still engaged in the “competition between vaccines and viruses” and “when winter comes, it can’t be blown away now.” He said the booster program is important to avoid imposing restrictions. “We have jabs, we need arms to put them in … not only to save lives, but to protect your freedom.”

Approximately 4 million people have received booster shots in the UK, leaving 1.5 million eligible individuals who have not yet accepted the offer. An additional 2 million people have been contacted by the NHS this week and are scheduled for a third dose.

Stephen Powis, director of health care at the NHS England, said pressure is being assessed across health services, although there is no single indicator of whether measures will be revived. “It definitely feels very busy on the NHS,” he said.

The UK pandemic response is an exception in Western Europe’s neighboring countries, where more Covid restrictions are in place and the levels of cases and mortality are low. The daily number of cases per 100,000 people in the UK is about five times that in Germany, and the mortality rate is about 2.5 times.

A senior Whitehall official said ministers wanted individuals to focus on “boosters and actions” before considering Plan B’s actions. “We can turn this around before we get back on track.”

There has been no press conference on Downing Street Covid since September 14, but officials said, “People seem to forget that we are in a pandemic and need to remind them.” He suggested that it was the general public who was satisfied.

Professor Ravi Gupta, a member of the government’s New Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group (Nervtag), called on the government to take action now.

“We are already in a position to take action too late to reintroduce measures … Now it’s just a damage limit,” he said. “Given public health and scientific excellence, we need to ask ourselves why we are doing so much worse than the rest of the world. Common denominator is that they are still masked indoors. Is wearing and taking precautionary measures. “

Javid said the UK had secured major orders for two promising Covid-19 antivirals, claiming to “strengthen its defenses” against the coronavirus during the winter.

The government’s Antiviral Task Force has signed a contract for 480,000 courses of MSD’s Molnupiravir antiviral pills. This has been shown to halve the risk of hospitalization and death from mild Covid infections. This is the second largest order in the world after the United States, which has signed a contract for 1.7 million courses.

We have also agreed with Pfizer on 250,000 courses of antiviral treatment known as PF-07321332. It is given in combination with a low dose of the retroviral drug ritonavir. Molnupiravir is scheduled for approval as early as mid-November, but both antivirals have not yet been approved by the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

Health authorities have not yet decided how to deploy treatment, but it is expected to be distributed to the elderly and vulnerable people, especially patients in long-term care facilities, through primary care and pharmacies.