The epidemic of Covid has resumed racing in the UK because of Delta variant but the British premier, Boris Johnson, announced for the July 19 reopening of England. Via the obligation of masks and the limits to social interactions; smart working will no longer be required. In addition, all pubs, night clubs and discos will reopen, without limits to the number of people admitted.
Commercial establishments and businesses will be able to decide independently to request immunization tests from patrons, but there will be no type of vaccination pass in force. In case of contact with a positive, self-isolation remains valid but those who have already received two doses can avoid it. Other details on holidays and quarantine will be communicated later in the week while the confirmation or possible revocation of these decisions will be given on 12 July.
Faced with the fears raised by the increasing number of daily infections, the Downing Street boss acknowledged that the epidemic “will certainly not be over by July 19“; however,” we must be honest with ourselves: if we cannot reopen the company in the coming weeks, when will we be able to return to normal? “. “The alternative is to open in the winter when the virus will have an advantage”, he added.
The number of Covid cases is growing rapidly: in the United Kingdom in the last 24 hours 27,334 new infections have been recorded, in the week of June 29-July 5 the number increased by 53.2% compared to the previous seven days. And the estimates indicate that by July 19 there will be about 50,000 infections a dayJohnson said, noting that the vaccination campaign precedes as expected – 45.35 million Britons who have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 33.73 those fully immunized – and immunization remains effective against coronavirus.
In this regard, the government has decided to reduce the interval between doses from 12 weeks to 8 for those under 40. Despite the increase in cases, hospital admissions and deaths do not experience the same exponential growth as witnessed in the second wave (1,953 new patients in the period 23-29 June, + 24.2%; deaths in the last week they were 128, an increase of 4.9%), albeit in the last few days hospitalizations have begun to increase more rapidly.
According to a YouGov survey, 71% of Brits want masks to remain mandatory on public transport, while 66% should remain in shops and enclosed public spaces. Additionally, 70% say they would feel less safe if they were in a crowded or unventilated place and people wore no face masks.