United Kingdom: the appearance of the Brazilian variant …

From London. With the vaccination program booming, Boris Johnson is Gardel (or John Lennon). The polls mark a change in the fortune of the Prime Minister who until December was synonymous with confusion and laziness and now seems to be affected by the stick of efficiency.

But popularity is very fragile during the time of the coronavirus. The appearance of six cases of the Brazilian variant on Sunday revealed shortcomings in the border control system. And coming back to class in Big Bang mode next week has sparked a chain reaction. teachers’ unions and other professions that have been overlooked in the immunization program, such as the police.

Sunday revealed the two faces of the UK against coronavirus. The government was able to announce that in less than two months, the barrier of 20 million vaccinated had been crossed, almost a third of the population. At the same time, the English health authority, Public Health England (PHE), acknowledged that three cases had been detected in England and three in Scotland of the Brazilian variant.

In one case, the identity of the virus carrier was unknown as details had not been provided to complete the monitoring and testing process. “We are not protecting our borders as we should. The sooner we do it the better,” said Labor Party leader Sir Keir Starmer.

This morning the Prime Minister Boris Johnson has denied that these cases will postpone the start of the planned four-stage national lockdown from next Monday.

“Our strategy is prudent, but irreversible. I don’t think there is any reason to change it at the moment. We have one of the strictest border regimes in the world to prevent the entry of people from countries at risk, ”said the Prime Minister.

The PHE and the National Health Service (NHS) are tracking all passengers who have arrived on Swiss airline flight LX318 who arrived at Heathrow on February 10 from São Paulo via Zurich.

In Scotland, three passengers who traveled on another flight from Brazil, but via Paris, tested positive for the P1 variant. This variant is more contagious than Brazilian P2 and it is not known whether it responds to vaccines used in the UK, Pfizer and Astra Zeneca.

The revelation of these cases darkened a Sunday which had started with excellent news for Johnson: the polls record a “vaccine rebound” (a positive rebound thanks to the vaccination program).

Opinium poll published on Sunday The observer he noted that the Tories had increased their lead to 7 points over Labor, with whom they were head-to-head at the end of the year. Johnson now has a five-point advantage over Keir Starmer and is seen as the best-placed manager for the job he holds.

Alarm signal

The risk of Brazilian P1 is currently considered worrying, but low: the authorities hope to control it with a system of surveillance and zonal quarantine of the passengers who have traveled on the two flights from Brazil.

The great fear is that it comes a week after an event that the country views with a mixture of hope and fate: the simultaneous reopening of primary and secondary schools, the first step in the de-escalation of national confinement announced on January 5. .

The educators’ unions have screamed in the sky over this measure which “will put ten million people overnight in a situation of social interaction”.

The program of rapid tests with results in 30 minutes (lateral flow tests) with which the government has sought to calm the waters has only intensified the debate because it has quiet reliability and its implementation is a logistical nightmare.

“The idea that with these tests we will be able to open classrooms without problem during a Big Bang on March 8, is unrealistic”, declared Mary Bousted, co-secretary general of the NEU which brings together the educators.

Unions demanded, and failed, to be essential staff to get immunization priority. The same is true of the police, who strongly criticized the decision of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization to continue with a vaccination order based solely and exclusively on age criteria without differentiating between professions at higher risk. because of their level.

The Director of the Police Federation of England and Wales, John Apter, stressed that the government was hiding “behind the science” and that its decision was a “betrayal which will not be forgotten”. “They have no idea what it’s like to patrol the streets during a pandemic,” Apter said.

For his part, Patrick Roach, general secretary of the teachers’ union, NASUWT, said that by not giving priority to teachers, the government was jeopardizing the continuity of the reopening of schools next week.

“The government says its priority is getting children back to school, but it is not taking the necessary steps to keep the school open. There was broad support for teachers and education staff to be a priority in the immunization program. The government needs to show leadership that, at the moment, is not visible, ”Roach said.