British Prime Minister anounces delay in ending coronavirus restrictions

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Mon, 2021-06-14 13:29 — mike kraft

Boris Johnson delays end of England’s coronavirus restrictions as delta variant cases climb June 21 was supposed to mark England’s “freedom day,” when the country’s remaining coronavirus restrictions would end, but the government has opted to keep them in place. Jennifer Hassan, Paul Schemm, Adam Taylor Washington Post

LONDON — June 21 was supposed to mark England’s “freedom day,” when the country’s remaining coronavirus restrictions would end, but the government has opted to keep them in place at least through July 19 due to concern over rising cases and a fast-spreading variant.

Boris Johnson announced the delay late Monday. “Now is the time to ease off the accelerator," he said. “I am confident we will not need more than 4 weeks and we will not go beyond July 19. But now is the time to ease off the accelerator.”

Johnson had set the timeline for full reopening in February, as British vaccination efforts gained steam. Local governments in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales set their own targets, but all had plans to relax rules in late June.

Britain has fully vaccinated 44.6 percent of its population, according to tracking from The Washington Post, compared to 43.4 percent of Americans who are fully vaccinated. ...

Appearing on Sky News on Monday, Edward Argar, a junior health and social care minister, confirmed government worries about rising cases of the delta virus variant, which was first discovered in India. He described it as 40 percent more infectious than the earlier alpha variant first found in Britain.

“That’s what’s driving the spike. We’ve gone in a week from 12,000 cases to about 40,000 cases, and that’s a big jump,” he said, describing it as “highly, highly infectious.” Scientists estimate that 90 percent of the new cases in Britain are from the delta variant.

he symptoms of the delta variant, labeled a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization, include a headache and runny nose. The strain is now dominant in almost every region of the country, according to recent data.

The idea behind the delay, according to reports, is to get more people vaccinated, especially with their second dose, before all restrictions are lifted. Recent studies indicate that after a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccines, people are only about 33 percent protected from the delta variant, but that increases to more than 80 percent with the second dose.

Britain has concentrated on getting as many people as possible a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. About 41 million people, or nearly 79 percent of the adult population, have received at least one shot. Only 30 million people, however, are fully vaccinated. ...

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