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Due to the significantly increasing number of corona infections, the British government has again tightened measures. “We have to impose a blockade on England in order to get the new variant of Corona under control,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a televised speech Monday night. Johnson said the measures would likely remain in effect until mid-February.
WATCH LIVE: My update on the coronavirus. (January 4, 2021) https://t.co/ZL6PeAGWPl
?? Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 4, 2021
“That means you have to stay home.” The house can only be left for necessary activities like visiting the doctor or working. Schools have to close, recreational sports are no longer allowed. Johnson said the measures would likely remain in effect until mid-February. Parliament will debate the closure on Wednesday and broad bipartisan approval is expected. The other parts of the country have similar strict measures.
More recently, Britain had always announced new records of new infections, on Monday there were almost 59,000. The number of deaths has increased by 20 percent, that of Covid patients in clinics is 40 percent higher compared to the peak in the spring, Johnson said. The crown variant discovered in the UK, which may be up to 70 percent more contagious than previously known, is spreading in “frustrating and alarming ways,” Johnson said. “Stay home, protect the NHS (health), save lives.” . “
Johnson emphasized that he understood the frustration of the population and called for a final joint effort. “The next few weeks will be the most difficult,” said the prime minister. “But I am convinced that we are entering the final phase of the fight because with each vaccine that is injected into our arms, we change course, against Covid and in favor of the British people.”
The vaccines continue
Britain is now using two coronavirus vaccines. On Monday, 82-year-old dialysis patient Brian Pinker from Oxford was the first to be vaccinated at the local university clinic with the home-grown vaccine from the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca, as announced by the British health service NHS. The vaccine from the Mainz-based company BioNtech and the American company Pfizer has been used for four weeks. Johnson saw nurse Susan Cole being vaccinated in London. “He asked me how I was feeling,” the 60-year-old told the PA news agency. “We talked a bit about the importance of vaccination not only for humans, but also to protect others.”
At Oxford, the patient Pinker said he was happy to have received the dose. “I am very happy to receive the Covid-19 vaccine today and I am very proud that it was invented in Oxford,” he said, according to the NHS announcement. British Health Minister Matt Hancock described the initiation of vaccination with the agent as an “indispensable step” in the fight against the pandemic.
The second corona vaccine used in the country has a great advantage: the Oxford agent can be stored at refrigerator temperatures, which significantly simplifies logistics. At first, the country will have half a million doses available, which will be injected in hundreds of hospitals and doctors’ offices starting this week. The vaccine is not yet approved in the EU.
Another blockade in Lebanon too
Due to the continuing high number of corona infections, Lebanon has again decided on a far-reaching blockade. Public life will be severely restricted from Thursday until the end of the month, as the state news agency NNA reported Monday. For example, there is a curfew every day from 6 pm local time (5 pm CET) until the next morning. According to local media, the corona pandemic has reached dangerous proportions, Health Minister Hamad Hassan said.
The number of new infections each day was again over 2,000. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the number of deaths amounted to around 1,500. Hospitals complain about the lack of free beds in intensive care units. The government had already ordered strict exit restrictions on several occasions in the past year due to the pandemic, most recently in November.
The Mediterranean country has been experiencing one of the worst economic crises in its history for months. The corona pandemic and the catastrophic explosion in the port of Beirut in early August have further exacerbated the situation. According to the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), more than 55 percent of the population lives in poverty, about double the number in 2019. After his resignation after the explosion, the government is only executive in office. The new prime minister-designate, Saad Hariri, has yet to form a cabinet. (what, dpa)
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