UK Lockdown After Christmas
To prevent the spread of Omicron, the UK Government is developing new strategies. After Christmas, authorities are said to be contemplating a two-week circuit breaker. December 27 to 30 are the most possible dates for the restrictions to take effect, according to the Mail Online.
In an effort to curb the spread of the extremely contagious Omicron type, indoor gatherings might be restricted for two weeks following Christmas.
New “circuit breaker” limitations are being drawn up to bring England back to social distancing measures last seen in April, according to the newspaper story.
“Step two” of the Prime Minister’s supposedly irrevocable spring roadmap to independence would be reinstated by the proposed legislation. Indoor mingling would be outlawed except for work requirements, and restaurants and pubs would be confined to outside table service.
Families and friends would only be permitted to visit each other in groups of six outside of the house, but schools and businesses would remain open.
Weddings and funerals would be capped at 15 and 30 persons, respectively, as a kind of protection for those who are most vulnerable.
In the absence of a formal decision, sources tell The Times that parliament might be recalled this week to discuss the limitations, which could be applied as early as December 27 or 28.
This implies that the holiday season will be severely disrupted by the most stringent government measures in nine months. Though no new measures have been implemented, Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists that the government is not “shutting down.”
SPi-M estimates peak admissions of between 3,000 and 10,000 per day for Covid-19-related treatments, a massive rise on existing totals of roughly 900 per day that might overload NHS systems. This follows internal data from the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group (SPi-M).
Hospitalizations might be reduced to 1,500 to 5,000 admissions each day if a two-week period of limitations is imposed, according to senior health consultants. Last year, admissions in England reached 4,000 per day.
There were 93,045 instances of Covid-19 recorded in the United Kingdom on Friday – the third consecutive record-breaking day – and the R number is now estimated to be close to four. There were conflicting messages from data released on the Omicron variant.
Yesterday, a disturbing study issued by Imperial College London recommended that there’s no proof the new variant is less dangerous than the Delta strain and approximated the booster shots will only provide around 55 and 80 percent safety.
By comparison, the recent research from South Africa which first afflicted a wave of Omicron cases – recommend the variant is up to 30 per cent milder and that case rises have started to decrease already.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warned in the week that omicron viruses will double every 1.9 days. But a methodology memo accepted for publication discreetly by the UKHSA on Thursday claims it is now incorrect to assume that the significantly increasing rate will stay unchanged, as should no longer be used.
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