By: Muhammad Musa
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed on Monday, July 12, that nearly all coronavirus restrictions will be lifted by July 19, but urged the public to exercise caution as cases continued to rise across the country.
In a televised news conference, Johnson said that the responsibility to protect the community and prevent the spread of the virus now rests with the public themselves and that people will have to make their own decisions when it comes to social distancing and the use of medical masks in public spaces.
“We are admirably close to the final stage in our roadmap to getting out of lockdown, but the plan to restore our freedoms must come with a warning. We must all take responsibility for not holding back our progress, and ensuring we continue to protect our NHS. Health) Johnson confirmed.
See also: The World Health Organization predicts that the delta version of COVID-19 will soon become prevalent in the world
The Prime Minister noted that although the “massive vaccine release” had provided all adults with some protection against the virus, and the crucial link between cases, hospitalizations and deaths had weakened, the global pandemic was far from over.
He added: “Cases will increase as we unlock ourselves, so as we confirm our plans today our message will be clear. Caution is absolutely vital and we must all take responsibility not to hold back on our progress, and to ensure we continue to protect the NHS.” Prime Minister.
Johnson said the vaccine launch and the high vaccination rate among adults had weakened the link between infection, hospitalizations and deaths, but warned that cases would continue to rise in the coming months after exceeding 30,000, the highest since earlier this year. When the nation was going through a second wave.
Defending the government’s decision to reopen the country, the new health minister, Sajid Javid, said in Parliament that such reopening could only take place because of the UK’s “successful” vaccination programme.
“When I addressed the House last week, this will be an important milestone for this country, bringing us one step closer to the lives we are all used to living. This means carefully removing more restrictions that govern our daily lives. For example, the number of people to be found, The number of people who can attend weddings, the number of visitors who can see their loved ones in the residences,” Javid said.
However, the Health Secretary acknowledged that cases will continue to rise due to the delta variant which has become the most prevalent strain in the UK. He warned people to be careful in his approach in the coming months. In addition, Javid said that if the current peak turns out to be worse than previous peaks, the restrictions may return.
As part of next week’s massive reopening, the two-meter distancing rule will be removed, restrictions on the number of people who can mix inside different homes will be removed, and the mandatory use of masks will be removed.
In addition, theaters and cinemas will be able to return to their full capacity, audiences will be able to gather for sporting and entertainment events, including festivals, concerts and shows, and nightclubs will also be able to open their doors for evening entertainment.
The massive easing of the lockdown has made England the most unrestrained country in Europe when it comes to the pandemic.
The government’s move has sparked massive criticism and bewilderment from the scientific community, which argues that such measures would allow lethal variants to take root and spread.
On Monday, 34,471 people tested positive for the virus. The country also recorded 228,189 cases of infection, an increase of 28.1% over the previous week’s data.
Six deaths were also reported in the same period. Between July 6 and 12, the UK reported 200 deaths, an increase of 56.2% compared to the previous seven days.
Meanwhile, the number of vaccinations continues to increase as young people are eligible to receive the biological vaccine. As of the end of July 11, nearly 46 million people had received their first dose of the vaccine and more than 34 million people had received their second dose.
The R range for the UK is 1.1 to 1.3, with the current growth rate from +2% to +5% per day. The R number is a mechanism used to assess the ability of a virus to spread, where R is the number of people an infected person will transmit the virus to.
* Juan Felipe Vélez Rojas contributed to this note.
Anadolu Agency website contains only part of the news stories presented to subscribers on the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summary.
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