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What do we know about variants of the coronavirus as a new strain found in the UK?
The variant, which is understood to have originated in the UK, has been designated as an “investigational variant” (VUI) by Public Health England (PHE).
Professor Hayward says the UK left things “too late” at the start of the pandemic
Looking back at the beginning of the pandemic, Professor Hayward, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at UCL, told Times Radio: “I think one of the reasons we have had so many deaths is that we left things too late, in terms of taking more restrictive measures.
“We should have taken social distancing measures, if not a total lockdown, then other measures that were trying to separate people much earlier.
“At that time, of course, we also didn’t have the same mechanisms to measure how much disease was in the community, so for the most part we were only looking at the tip of the iceberg of cases.
“By the time you start to see major increases in deaths, it was too late to take action and therefore levels rose dramatically before we took effective action, and it took a long, long time for them to go down again. “
Society will have to live with a degree of mortality that will be “substantial” – Sage scientist
Professor Andrew Hayward, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) told Times Radio: “I think, you know, given the social compensations, we will have to live with a mortality rate that will be substantial.
“I think it will decrease over time as more people get vaccinated and more people become immune, and I think we’ve been through the worst of this.”
Professor Hayward said he does not believe that the new Covid-19 variants completely bypass vaccine-related immunity.
“The vaccines will still take the sting out of you, if you want to, and lower the fatality rates,” he said.
“Of course, we have the technology to update vaccines and I think that’s where we are really going, a situation that will be much more flu-like, the number of deaths will be much more flu-like, the approach to surveillance of new strains and the development of new vaccines and regular annual vaccinations will be like this.
“And we will return to normal.”
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth Asks Rishi Sunak To “Think Again” About NHS Pay Increase
Ashworth told Sky News: “Government is about making decisions. This government has chosen to offer just a one percent pay increase for nurses, paramedics and midwives, while at the same time spending millions on personal protective equipment that was not good. “
He added that millions have also been spent on Test and Trace and “highly paid” consultants for the program.
“They could have chosen a different path and paid our NHS staff a fair deal and I urge Rishi Sunak to think again,” Ashworth said.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth says the 1% pay increase is a “kick in the teeth”
When asked about her thoughts on Nadine Dorries’ comments justifying the raise, Ashworth told Sky News: “[It’s] shocking, disgusting, an absolute kick in the teeth.
“We have the NHS on the front lines fighting to save people’s lives. We have NHS staff in charge of the vaccination program.
“If the inflation estimates are met, it is a salary cut. This Government is cutting the salary of nurses who fight to save the lives of Covid patients.
“The government should be ashamed.”
Health minister hints at possible U-turn in a 1% pay rise on the NHS
Former nurse Dorries insisted that the offer for health workers was what the government could afford, but then suggested that it could “move forward.”
Dorries says the government has already spent a “large amount of expenses fighting the pandemic”
When pressed about the 1 per cent pay increase for NHS workers, the health minister said that nurses have already had a 12 per cent pay increase in the last three years.
Dorries told Sky News that the government had spent a “large amount of expenses fighting the pandemic.”
“It has been about protecting people and livelihoods,” he said.
London Covid Cases Revealed By Municipality Amid Hopes Coronavirus Lockdown Can Be Eased More Quickly
Half of London’s boroughs have a weekly rate of less than 50 new confirmed infections per 100,000, with only one area still above 100.
Read our full report here:
Health Minister Nadine Dorries says the 1% wage increase for NHS workers is “what the government can afford”
She told Sky News: “Of course, we recognize the sacrifice and commitment of NHS workers and all healthcare workers over the past year.
“But I think it’s important to point out that the government’s priority has been to protect people’s livelihoods with the licensing plan and fight the pandemic, and we put a lot of effort into that.
“No other public sector is getting a pay raise, but the 1% offer is the most we think we can afford.”
Good morning and welcome to today’s live coronavirus coverage
We will bring you the latest updates from the UK and around the world.
