for the Delta variant, the UK will extend the restrictions

Also known as B.1.617.2, the Delta variant is said to spread more easily than the Alpha variant, B.1.1.7, which was first detected in Kent, and is somewhat more resistant to vaccines. Covid, especially after a single dose. It may also be associated with an increased risk of hospitalization.

An organizational report Public Health England (PHE) It also found that cases of the virus double between every 4.5 and 11.5 days, depending on the region, and that it has an approximately 60% higher risk of home transmission compared to the Alpha variant. . Cases confirmed in the UK to date have increased from 29,892 to 42,323.

The sharp increase in cases is due, in part, to the use of a new technique to determine the variant present in a positive Covid sample. Previously, positive samples were sent to labs for whole genome sequencing, a process that took five to 10 days to return results.

The news comes at a time when the UK is facing a recent spike in Covid-19 cases. After a long winter confinement, the government very gradually relaxed the restrictions. But the lifting of the latest measures, scheduled for next week, is threatened by the recent upsurge in infections, which exceed 7,000 new cases daily.

Delaying the last step, prolonging, among other things, the task of teleworking, would allow more Britons to get vaccinated to protect them from severe symptoms, hospitalization and death, since most people hospitalized for covid had not been vaccinated or some had only received the first of two doses of the preparation.

More than 41.5 million people, or nearly 79% of the adult population, have already received the first dose of a covid-19 vaccine and 29.8 million people, 56.6% adults, both necessary doses.

Although the rest of the UK – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – have relaxed restrictions, they will still maintain various types of measures to reduce the possibility of infections.

The Night Industries Association warned on Monday that a delay in lifting the measures would be “catastrophic” for sectors such as nightclubs, closed since March of last year, and indicated that this sector had invested millions of dollars. books in the preparations for this June 21. Currently, the guest limit for weddings and other events is 30 people.