Will the Covid containment end on June 21? Brighton News

Several reports have also suggested that plans to lift the restrictions could be scaled back, with social distancing and wearing of face coverings expected to continue amid concerns that the Indian variant is fueling an increase in cases.

Coronavirus on the rise in the UK

In the 24 hours to 9 a.m. yesterday morning, 22 people tested positive for the disease in Brighton and Hove, according to figures published on the government website.

The last time this number was reported in a single day was March 21.

The UK recorded 6,238 cases yesterday, its highest number of new confirmed cases of coronavirus since March 25.

Will the restrictions be relaxed?

Epidemiologist Dr Adam Kucharski said the UK faces a different battle over dominance of the Indian variant, meaning it could be “hard to justify” a news easing restrictions this month.

When asked if the June 21 unlock target made him ‘nervous’, the government adviser told BBC Radio 4’s Today show:’ I think we have to accept that the equation has changed. here – we are not facing the virus we faced two months ago. .

“If we were faced with the B.117 (Kent) variant as the dominant variant, the fact that it (the vaccines) works great, the number of cases goes down well, we might be more confident that there could be have a reopening without seeing these surges.

“But we are not. Everyone is tired of this pandemic, they want this return to normalcy and it will happen, the effectiveness of two doses of the vaccine will eventually get us there.

“But if, say, two weeks from now we are in a situation where hospitalizations have increased, where local health systems are under pressure, I think it will be quite difficult to justify adding more transmission to this. kind of situation. ”

What about the vaccine?

However, the Covid-19 vaccine appears to have “broken the chain” between catching coronavirus and becoming seriously ill, the NHS Providers chief executive said.

Chris Hopson said the number of people hospitalized with the Covid-19 variant first detected in India, also known as the Delta variant, was not increasing “very significantly”.

He told BBC Breakfast that many people hospitalized in Bolton – which has the highest number of Indian variant cases in England – were younger than in previous waves of the pandemic.

Mr Hopson said on Saturday: “The people who came this time around were actually much younger and at a much lower risk of very serious complications, lower risk of death, and that means they were less called upon by critics care.

“What we think we can start saying now, based on this experience, is that it appears that vaccines have broken the chain between catching Covid-19 and potentially being very, very seriously ill and potentially dying.

“There were very, very few people who had those double jabs that were able to have this build-up of protection after those jabs.”