BoJo Still refuses to rule out More Lockdowns As Covid Cases Rise Again

Written by The Daily Mail on July 4, 2022. Posted in Current News

Boris Johnson has again refused to definitively rule out more Covid restrictions, despite senior medical names saying lockdowns should not have been implemented, and should never be used again

The Prime Minister said there were no plans to reintroduce curbs ‘at the moment’ as he appeared to leave the door open to future measures.

He was given the opportunity to rule out ever imposing restrictions again in an interview with LBC this morning at a NATO summit in Madrid.

‘I think that we see no reason for that at the moment and the most important thing is vaccination,’ he said.

But Mr Johnson suggested that a sharp spike in hospitalisations could be the trigger point for new curbs. He added: ‘We’re not seeing the types of pressures on the medical services that would lead us to anything like that.’

Daily Covid hospital admissions have almost trebled over the last month to roughly 1,200 — though only a fraction of patients are primarily ill with the disease.

Cases have also risen sharply over the past month, with statisticians estimating one in 30 people were carrying the virus in England last week.

Mr Johnson previously refused to rule out a future lockdown in April, saying it would be ‘irresponsible’ to discard something ‘that could save lives’ if a deadlier variant emerges.

Covid case numbers have became less important now that vaccines and natural immunity have severed the link between infection and severe illness.

Ministers are now looking to NHS virus figures to gauge the severity of the outbreak, which have been rising for over a month.

There are between 1,200 and 1,400 daily admissions for Covid currently, compared to around 450 at the end of May.

But the admission figures alone do not tell the full story as analysis suggests only a third (37.7 per cent) are primarily ill with Covid.

The rest are known as ‘incidental’ cases, those who went to hospital for a different reason but happened to test positive.

Incidentals have become increasingly common because the highly infectious but milder Omicron subvariants are so prevalent in the wider community.

Covid deaths — another key metric — have plateaued at around 20 per day in England and Wales, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The ONS breaks down deaths that were primarily caused by the virus, as opposed to it being a secondary factor.

However, fatalities are the biggest lagging indicator, and it can take weeks for them to rise on the back of an uptick in infections.

During his interview on LBC, Mr Johnson insisted that getting vaccinated against Covid was the most important way to avoid future restrictions.

Fourth doses — or a second booster — have been dished out to four in five people over the age of 75 and those who are immunosuppressed.

Latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests 1.83million people in England were infected during the week to June 24.

That is up by a third on the previous week.

The outbreak has been fuelled by the spread of BA.4 and BA.5, which are thought to be more infectious but just as mild as the original Omicron strain.

A separate ONS Covid fatality report showed the virus was directly responsible for just 161 deaths in England and Wales in the most recent week, or 23 per day, on average.

Sir Jonathan Van-Tam last week dismissed hysteria that a recent uptick in Covid cases marks a new wave of the pandemic, saying Britain has to learn to live the virus.

Referring to hospital admission and death data, the country’s former deputy chief medical officer claimed there is ‘nothing alarmist in these figures‘.

Sir Jonathan revealed even he had abandoned wearing his face mask.

The spread of the new variants is thought to have been accelerated during large gatherings for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and half-term holidays.

Some have also pointed to Britons mistaking Covid symptoms for hay fever.

The UKHSA estimated that BA.4 and BA.5 account for approximately 22 per cent and 39 per cent of cases, respectively.

Latest analysis suggests BA.5 is growing 35 per cent faster than the formerly dominant Omicron BA.2, while BA.4 is growing approximately 19 per cent faster.

This suggests that BA.5 is likely to become the dominant variant in the UK.

See more here: dailymail.co.uk

Bold emphasis added

Header image: Reuters

Editor’s note: The chart below shows the increase in UK Covid cases to July 1st

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