The UK on Friday recorded 10,476 new cases of COVID-19 and 11 deaths according to official data. Figures from the latter show that 42.5 million people had received their first dose of vaccine and 30.9 million had received both vaccines.
This new wave of coronavirus infections in the UK accelerated on Thursday with new confirmed cases exceeding 10,000 for the first time in nearly four months due to the spread of the more contagious delta variant. UK government figures showed 11,007 more cases were reported. This is the highest daily number since February 19, when 12,027 cases were recorded, confirming that the country with the highest number of virus-related deaths in Europe is in the midst of a third wave of the pandemic . Figures on Thursday also showed 19 people had died after testing positive for the virus. This is the highest daily death toll; reported since May 11, bringing the total number of UK deaths from the pandemic to 127,945, the highest in Europe.
Daily cases have risen quite sharply in recent weeks after fluctuating around the 2,000 mark earlier. The delta variant, which was first identified in India and is considered by government scientists to be between 40% and 80% more transmissible than the previous dominant strain, accounts for around 95% of all new cases in the UK. United. UK Government Chief Medical Advisor Professor Chris Whitty said the scale of the current outbreak is ” still uncertain “but that it” will certainly result in new hospitalizations and, unfortunately, this will undoubtedly result in new deaths“. In addition to warning of further near-term deaths, Whitty said the country should prepare for new waves of the virus to come. “In the medium term, I expect that we will get a new winter push, a late fall / winter push, and that’s because we know that winter and fall promote respiratory viruses, and it would therefore be very surprising if this particular highly transmissible respiratory virus was not favored either. “, He declared in a speech to health professionals.
Most of the new confirmed cases are from younger age groups who have not yet received Covid-19 vaccines. The widely hailed UK vaccine rollout is being extended to all adults over 18 from Friday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed. Indeed and in response to the increase in these cases, is the UK aiming to accelerate vaccination plans to give each adult a first Covid-19 vaccine by July 19, a new date on which there are plans to end the restrictions in “England”.
It was Prime Minister Boris Johnson who delayed the decision, saying it was now “time to release the accelerator” so more people could get vaccinated and prevent thousands more deaths. BoJo expressed hope that by July 19, two-thirds of the UK’s adult population will be offered two vaccines, including all people over 50. The hope is that the vaccine rollout will reverse the last peak and allow the next easing of the lockdown. As of Thursday, around 63% of the British population had received at least one dose of the vaccine, while around 46% had received two. An analysis Monday from Public Health England showed that two doses of the main vaccines used by the UK are very effective against hospitalization of the delta variant, 96% for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 92% for the AstraZeneca vaccine .
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