Displaying items by tag: Covid cases rising

The CEO of the UK Health Security Agency said, ‘Covid hospitalisation numbers are expected to rise further’ as Covid cases jumped by 32% in a week. The Office of National Statistics reported ‘Over 1.7m people were infected on 7th July’. People are encouraged to ‘go about their normal lives but take precautions’ by handwashing, keeping a distance from others where possible and wearing a face-covering in enclosed, poorly ventilated areas. In England 9,000 Covid patients were hospitalised on 30 June, twice as many as at the start of June. The latest rise in Covid infections was 500,000 cases last week. One in 30 has the virus. It is ‘quite likely’ that hospital numbers will peak above where they were in the spring. There is evidence of a slight reduction in the effectiveness of vaccines on variants, but they are still keeping the majority of people safe from severe disease and hospitalisation. People with Covid symptoms should stay at home.

Health leaders have called for some Covid restrictions to be reintroduced immediately to avoid England stumbling into a winter crisis. They said a back-up strategy, a Plan B which includes mandatory face coverings in crowded and enclosed spaces, should be implemented. UK cases have been rising sharply. Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said it was not yet time for a Plan B and urged a greater uptake of booster jabs. He did not want to jeopardise the ‘hard-won gains’ of reopening the economy even though for a week daily Covid cases have averaged above 40,000, the worst figures since March. Overall, he said, ‘the health service is right at the edge’. Meanwhile, the health secretary is telling the public to ‘play their part and get a booster jab’ in order to enjoy Christmas with loved ones. Cabinet Office officials are already discussing ‘Plan C’ proposals which would ban mixing between households. See