Vaccination plans have begun, but the coronavirus epidemic in the UK has not yet been controlled.
According to the British Mirror and Sky News on the 22nd, George Eustice, the British Environment Secretary, confirmed in an interview with Sky News on the same day that in order to prevent more mutant virus flow due to concerns that the novel coronavirus mutant will be resistant to the current vaccine.
Entering the country, there are heated discussions within the British government whether to completely close the border.
“There are reports that the UK is planning to completely close its borders to foreign tourists. Is this what you want to see? The host Gillian Joseph asked.
“We’ve been thinking about these things, and we’re thinking about it.” Eustice responded, “There are concerns about the growing number of mutant viruses. The mutant virus is emerging in other countries, and there are concerns that the virus will be resistant to vaccines for more than a day.”
On the same day, Eustice also told the BBC that he did not want to see the border completely closed, but refused to rule out any possibility.
“I would like to see us successfully get through this pandemic and start over again, not closing the border.
But we can’t rule out any possibility.” He told the BBC that, as it stands, he believes that the UK’s restrictions such as quarantines are “sufficient” and “right and appropriate.”
“The pandemic lockdown measures may be relaxed in late spring or early summer,” Eustice revealed.
“Once we vaccinate all vulnerable people and start to lower the age range, in late spring and early summer, I really think it is possible to get close to normal life.”
“It won’t be completely normal at first, but we’ll be able to get out of lockdown and start the life we used to be.” “The light is at the end of the tunnel,” Eustice said.
At present, all people arriving in the UK must be quarantined for 10 days if they test negative for COVID-19.
Affected by the coronavirus mutant virus, people from South Africa and South America have been banned from entering the United Kingdom.
Despite Eustice’s optimistic description, the UK entering 2021 is still struggling in the quagmire of the epidemic. Earlier this month, the English region was “locked down” for the third time since the outbreak of the epidemic.
British Prime Minister Johnson previously announced that from January 5 to mid-February, the whole of England will be subject to the initial lockdown similar to that in March last year, with most schools and universities closed and switched to online teaching.
Residents are required to stay home except for medical treatment, food purchase, exercise and work that cannot be completed at home.
It is worth mentioning that a few weeks ago, Johnson repeatedly mentioned that Britain can return to normal this spring.
But this week he changed his words, saying, “It’s too early to talk about when the lockdown can be lifted.”
In the face of heavy blockades, some British politicians can no longer stand it.
According to the British Daily Mail on the 21st, more than 70 British Conservative MPs jointly asked Johnson to publish a timetable for lifting the blockade by early March.
One of the Conservative MPs, Mark Harper, said that people must see the light at the end of the tunnel, hope for the future, and businesses must recover.
Kate Nicholls, CEO of the UK Hospitality trade body, said many bars and restaurants would be “difficult to survive” if they were forced to close until May.
According to the latest statistics of the British Health Department, on the 21st local time, 37,892 new confirmed cases were reported in the UK, with a total of 3543,646 confirmed cases; 1,290 new deaths were reported, with a total of 94,580 deaths 28 days after diagnosis.
The United Kingdom has the highest number of deaths in Europe.
Earlier this month, Johnson said that by mid-February, the first dose of vaccine would be vaccinated for four high-risk groups, including elderly and nurses in nursing homes, elderly people over 70 years old, all front-line medical staff and extremely vulnerable clinical patients.
According to the latest data from the British Health Department, 4,973,248 people have been vaccinated against the first dose in the UK, and the number of people who have been vaccinated for the second dose has also reached 464,036.
Although many epidemic prevention regulations have been introduced throughout the UK, many people still do not comply with it. In order to reduce the spread of the epidemic and urge people to comply with epidemic prevention regulations, British government officials are considering launching a monetary offensive.
According to Bloomberg on the 21st, British government officials are preparing a draft to grant a “quarantine subsidy of £500” to anyone who has tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the UK.
If this policy is implemented, the British government will spend up to £453 million a week on it.
Referring to this policy, Eustice said that achieving complete self-isolation is “quite challenging” for some people who are economically vulnerable and need to work.
Michael Gove, the Secretary of the British Cabinet Office, revealed that the Covid-19 Operations Committee will soon discuss this.
She added that the move shows that the government has realized that too many people do not want to quarantine at home and therefore need to make a decision quickly.
However, the BBC believes that considering the huge financial burden this policy will bring, the British government is unlikely to finally implement it.
NHS doctor Umeer Waheed said bluntly in an interview with Sky News that he was very “frustrated” about some people who did not comply with the epidemic prevention rules and wanted them to see them in person.
Because British medical staff are currently in constant high pressure.
“Although we were exhausted when we came home at night, it was still difficult to fall asleep. Because we always think about the next day.
Wahid said helplessly, “We don’t know when and how this situation will end, and whether there will be assistance. We don’t know anything.”
“We are dealing with a war,” Wahid said.
What I want to tell people is that there (the hospital) is simply a war zone.
