Even in freedom-loving Downing Street, it is slowly becoming clear: Without tougher measures, Omikron could be a catastrophe. But the government is still hesitant to take tougher measures.
Despite a massive increase in corona infections with the Omikron variant, the British government does not want to introduce any further measures to contain the pandemic for the time being.
“We have decided that we should keep the data under constant observation from now on and evaluate them every hour,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson after a meeting of his cabinet in London that lasted several hours. The government reserves the right to take further measures to protect the health service.
Increase in hospital admissions
Britain recorded more than 90,000 new infections on Monday. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands are actually infected every day. Omikron is already dominant in the regions of England and Scotland. There has also been an increase in hospital admissions. The number of deaths has recently remained relatively stable at around 800 cases within seven days.
In the opinion of the British expert council, Sage, there is a risk of 3,000 hospital admissions per day and overloading the health system in England alone without stricter measures. Even so, the British government continues to rely primarily on the vaccine booster program and the voluntary restraint of the people.
Johnson also currently lacks the political and moral authority to defend consistent action. On the one hand, only recently, when the tightening was relatively moderate, almost 100 MPs from his own party rebelled because they see the introduction of 3-G certificates for clubs and major events as an interference with British freedoms. On the other hand, Johnson has come under fire for several alleged lockdown parties on Downing Street.
Shortage of staff in hospitals
In London, where Omikron already accounts for around 80 percent of cases, there are already hundreds of employees short of hospitals. Education Minister Nadhim Zahawi also expects high staff absences in schools – and calls on retired teachers to get in touch. Everyone who felt able to help should now register on an appropriate website in order to reduce the “disruption caused by the virus in the new year”, reported the broadcaster Sky News. Some schools are already preparing for online classes again.
Germany has drastically restricted entry from Great Britain and again declared the island a virus variant area. Returnees have to be in quarantine for 14 days, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or not. In addition, only Germans and people who live in Germany are allowed to enter from Great Britain.
Source From: Stern
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