Corona in Great Britain: Boris Johnson's opening plans threaten to fail

The UK has made good progress in the fight against the coronavirus through a successful vaccination strategy. Now, however, threatens a setback.

London – Boris Johnson is still sticking to his plan. The fourth stage of the easing of the corona restrictions in Great Britain is expected to fall on June 21, 2021. Then, the Prime Minister wants all legal restrictions on social contacts in the country to be lifted. The return to normalcy in the country would at least be largely complete.

In the meantime, however, voices are becoming louder advising against such a project. Due to the spread of the Indian variant of the coronavirus – recently renamed the “Delta variant” by the World Health Organization – doubts are growing as to whether the Prime Minister should really implement this date.

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Corona in Great Britain: For the first time since July 2020, a day without a Covid 19 death

On Tuesday (June 1st, 2021) the authorities in Great Britain had not registered a corona death within 24 hours, but the country that was worst hit by the pandemic in Europe reported 3165 new infections at the same time. This meant a significant increase compared to the numbers of the past few weeks.

Several scientists have warned the UK government not to lift corona restrictions too soon. British microbiologist Ravi Gupta told Sky News on Tuesday that the planned end of all measures in England on June 21 was “a little early”. “We’ll need at least a couple of weeks – probably a month – before schools close, so the risk of transmission in schools is reduced,” Gupta said. He warned that the Indian variant posed “a real risk of generalized transmission in young people who are not vaccinated”. With the delta variant, there is an “aggravating factor” because the virus in the mutation “has a number of new properties that we did not expect”.

Corona easing in England: Scientists call for restraint

Adam Finn from the British Vaccination Commission also expressed concerns about the broadcaster LBC. “It would be a bad decision to stick with [the plans],” said Finn. The British Association of Physicians also warned Sky News that the health system could be overloaded if the number of cases rose sharply at a time when desperately trying to work off the backlog of postponed treatments and operations.

The Chairman of the Council of the British Medical Association (BMA), Dr. Chaand Nagpaul told the BBC too. Dr. Nagpaul emphasized that the country is in a “decisive phase” in the fight against the corona virus. “Ending any legal restrictions prematurely, which then led to an increase in infections, would undermine our healthcare efforts to deal with the largest supply backlog of all time. It would also put an additional strain on the mentally and physically exhausted employees ”. Nagpaul, referring to the Delta variant, called on the government to “withhold a final decision on whether the lockdown will be lifted completely on June 21 until the latest data can be scientifically taken into account”.

The incidence in Great Britain is still quite low at just under 29. However, the number of cases of the apparently very contagious variant B.1.617.2 has increased rapidly in the past few weeks; it now accounts for around three quarters of the proven cases. Scientists therefore fear that, despite the vaccination campaign that is well advanced in the UK, a severe third wave could threaten.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is only responsible for the corona rules in England, wants to inform about further steps on June 14th. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own rules. In fact, Scotland has now postponed planned easing for large parts of the country due to the spread of the delta variant. “It is important to emphasize that this is a pause, not a step back,” said Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon in Edinburgh

So it is quite conceivable that the mutation of the virus will thwart Prime Minister Boris Johnson – and that Britain’s success story in the fight against the virus will have to accept a major setback. (Stefan Krieger)

Headline list image: © Matt Dunham / dpa