Britain’s mutant coronavirus strain has swamped the nation, but one of the worst has already arrived.


Edinburgh, Scotland Britain It’s been a few weeks since people in Britain have been making relatively normal Christmas plans with their families thanks to mild epidemic rules. Now, mutant coronavirus variants in new daily cases are provoking near vertical spikes, with large parts of the country returning to the rigors of lockout and starting the new year.

The pace of the turn has been surprising and terrifying. In late November, following a nationwide lockdown in England, the number of cases in Britain dropped to about 13,000 in a single day. Now, for six consecutive days, more than 20,000,000 cases have been reported in the country.

By comparison, England reported 476.9 cases per 100,000 people in the past week, five times worse than California, the most affected U.S. The state, which is part of the U.S. Department of Disease Control and Prevention. According to the centers, 98.8 cases are being registered per 100,000. The message to the world seems clear – the new type is spreading fast, and, without taking drastic preventive measures, this will happen to you too.

The increase in Britain comes despite planned Christmas concessions being scrapped, schools closing for Christmas, and the largest city, London, being in the top-tier of the lockout for two weeks. Experts have been warning for weeks that the new variant is spreading so fast that the rules that may have worked last year are no longer enough. Political leaders are now scrambling to figure out how to take it harder, or face destruction.

Scotland is in first place. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that his new nationalist government has already closed the border with England after confirming that the new variable is running wild to the south. On Monday, Scotland’s first prime minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announced a tough lockdown in the spring. Her message – stay home, and keep your kids away from school, or we’ll be as bad as England.

Sturgeon estimates that Scotland is now almost four weeks behind the British invasion, but the new rules – which by law force Scots not to leave their homes but for some essential purpose – are designed to prevent them from controlling the country like their neighbors. . According to government figures, 188.3 cases per 100,000 were reported in Scotland, less than half the rate in England in the last seven days.

Meanwhile, Johnson was under intense pressure to spread while cases in England were spotted on the spike. It could end on Monday, as the prime minister is due to address the nation and he has warned that measures are bound to be tightened. It is not clear, however, exactly what the new action will be.

Asked what it took him a while to do something, Johnson said: “What we’ve been waiting for is to see the effect of the four-step tire on the virus and it’s a bit vague at the moment. But if you look at the numbers, there is no question that we have to take drastic action and we will disclose it properly. “

Health Secretary Matt Hancock acknowledged that the rules that worked after the spring lockdown were “not strong enough anymore.”

More worryingly, however, Hancock believes that facing the already besieged country in the new British variant will not be the biggest threat. He said on Monday that he was “extremely concerned” about a type of South African that was considered even more transmissible than the British – and two cases have been confirmed in Britain.

Hancock told the BBC on Monday: “This is a very, very significant problem … even more so than the new UK variant.”

One reason for this concern may also be that British experts have openly questioned whether the current vaccines will work on South African mutants. John Bell, a professor at John Oxford University and a government vaccine consultant, said there was a “big question mark” about whether the current vaccine would work on the South African type.

It is clear that Britain is in a bad situation – new measures will be taken to control the virus mutants, and what will happen if an even worse situation is caught. It is less clear if this will get worse.

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