The arrows are pointing in the wrong direction in the UK, where both the number of infections and deaths are rising.
On Tuesday, 43,738 new cases of infection were registered, which corresponds to an increase of 13.5 per cent in one week. In addition, 223 corona-related deaths were reported. This is the highest number of deaths in one day since March.
The situation means that the UK now has the highest infection pressure worldwide. This is causing great concern among the British health authorities, who are now begging the government to introduce new measures.
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The increase in the number of cases of infection has led to great pressure on the country’s hospitals. Before the weekend, 91 percent of the beds in English hospitals were occupied.
At the same time, over 5.7 million people are waiting for hospital treatment in England alone, according to The Guardian.
Long queues and long waiting times indicate that a winter crisis is on the horizon for British hospitals. Director of the British Health Service NHS, Matthew Taylor, says they are preparing for the “most challenging winter ever”.
– Plan B must be implemented immediately to prevent the UK from ending up in a winter crisis. We are on the verge of collapse – and it is mid-October, he says according to The Guardian.
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He adds:
– The government can not wait for the cases of infection to skyrocket and for the pressure on the NHS to skyrocket before they press the alarm button. The government should not just implement plan B – it should be plan B. plus. We should follow plan B when it comes to the use of bandages and home offices, but we should also try to avoid national mobilization.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that the authorities are following the infection situation closely, but that it is currently not relevant to introduce plan B.
– We have always known that the coming months will be challenging, he said.
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New mutation spreads
At the same time as infection rates are rising, a new delta variant is spreading in the UK. The new mutation, named AY. 4.2, is closely monitored by both health authorities and researchers, who estimate that it is 10 percent more contagious than the previous delta variant.
If this is true, it will mean that it is the most contagious virus variant that has been discovered so far in the pandemic.
– AY. 4.2 still has a relatively low frequency, and an increase of 10 per cent will only cause a small increase in the number of cases of infection. The new virus variant is therefore not the cause of the large increase in infection in the UK, says professor and department director at University College London, François Balloux, to Sky News.
The mutant was first discovered in July, and has so far not spread as fast as the previous delta variant did. About one in ten people who have recently tested positive for covid-19 in the UK are infected with the new virus variant, according to the newspaper.
– But we still have to be careful, Balloux says Financial Times.
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