COVID-19 crisis could return quickly as infections rise, warns UK adviser

LONDON, July 16 (Reuters) – England’s coronavirus crisis could come back surprisingly quickly again and the country is not out of the woods yet, the UK government’s chief medical adviser has said, as infections have increased before lifting of legal restrictions.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is removing most pandemic restrictions in England from July 19, saying a rapid rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has largely broken the link between infections and serious illness or death. Read more

Some scientists are concerned, however. Daily reported cases are at their highest level since January, while the “R” reproduction number remains above one, indicating continued exponential growth in cases. Read more

“We’re not out of the woods yet on this,” Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said Thursday evening during a webinar hosted by the Science Museum.

He added that the doubling time for hospitalizations was around three weeks and the low number of people hospitalized could currently increase in the next two months.

“It doesn’t take a lot of doubles until we’re in some pretty scary numbers again… I don’t think we should underestimate the fact that we could be in trouble again surprisingly quickly,” Whitty said. .

The Office for National Statistics has estimated that up to 1 in 95 people in England have been infected with COVID-19 in the week to July 10, the highest prevalence since February. Read more

“New cases of Delta will lead to lengthy COVIDs, hospitalizations and deaths,” said James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute

“The relationship between these has been massively altered by the safe and effective vaccines we administer, but the link is not eliminated.”

BREAKING THE ECONOMY

Britain’s COVID-19 death toll is among the highest in the world, but two-thirds of its adult population have been fully vaccinated.

On Monday, the last remaining businesses still closed in England, including nightclubs, may finally reopen, but business leaders warned that the self-isolation requirement for those exposed to positive cases could hamper l ‘economy.

Over 520,000 contact tracing alerts were sent through the National Health Service app in the week leading up to July 7.

“The hospitality sector, 20% of the staff is isolated, the health service up to 25% of the staff is absent and buses and trains delayed,” said Karan Bilimoria, president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), on LBC radio.

“It can’t go on … It destroys the economy.”

A spokesperson for Johnson said that “self-isolation remains one of the best tools we have to fight the virus”.

Reporting by Alistair Smout in London Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru and Kate Holton and Elizabeth Piper in London; Editing by Karishma Singh, Guy Faulconbridge, Catherine Evans and Raissa Kasolowsky

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