The UK saw a 25% increase in Covid cases week-on-week, after lockdown measures in Europe were reinstated and Boris Johnson warned about’storm clouds over’ the continent.
The Department of Health today posted 38.351 confirmed illnesses, almost half a percent higher than the 30.693 recorded Saturday, November 6.
Saturday marked the first day since Thursday that daily confirmed case numbers did not rise in the UK, as figures surged in the latter half of the week and brought an abrupt end to nearly a fortnight of falling infection numbers.
Also, Saturday’s death toll rose by 1.2 percentage, from 155 last Saturday.
The number of hospitalisations fell 8.9% on Tuesday (the most recent data date). It was 968 from 1,055. There are approximately 8,600 Covid-insured patients now at English hospitals, as opposed to 12,000 in the previous year.
These new statistics come as epidemiologists including Professor Lockdown Neil Ferguson said that it is unlikely the UK will have to follow the lead of European countries such as the Netherlands or Austria by imposing lockdown measures again this winter.
Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said yesterday that the Covid crisis on the continent was likened to the’storm clouds’ which could soon hit Britain as well.
The Office for National Statistics praised England’s “wall of immunity” as it showed that the Covid epidemic in the UK shrank by 16% to less than 1 million people.
Other Covid developments
- As Covid cases rose, demonstrators clashed in the Netherlands with police officers. Demonstrations took place in Austria.
- Neil Ferguson, aka Professor Lockdown said that it was unlikely that Britain would need to adopt the same measures as European countries such as the Netherlands or Austria when they implement winter lockdowns
- Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, said that Europe’s Covid crisis was likened to storm clouds and could affect Britain. Johnson encouraged people to obtain booster jabs.
- However, experts praised England’s “wall” of immunity after a mass-testing report showed that the size of England’s Covid outbreak fell by 16 percent to just 1 million
Austria will be the first country in Western Europe to implement a lockdown starting Monday. This applies to unvaccinated persons living in the most affected areas.
The Netherlands has also introduced an 8pm curfew in bars, restaurants and all other facilities starting today.
A group of around 200 anti-lockdown protesters clashed with riot police outside the government building in The Hague where Dutch PM Mark Rutte was speaking. A number of people were arrested for throwing stones and fireworks at police officers.
The protestors arrived with placards of whistles and megaphones. They started out peacefully, but the scene quickly became chaotic when projectiles, road signs and bicycles were scattered and flares were used.
In Austria, similar actions were taken on Friday night after Alexander Schallenberg (Chancellor) announced plans for imposing lockdown measures against unvaccinated people.
Many protestors gathered in Linz to vent their anger at proposed measures that would be implemented from Sunday. According to Reuters 20 percent of all intensive care beds used in Austria by Covid-patients are currently being utilized.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was seen greeting protestors in Milan as anti-vaxxers continued to demonstrate against Covid jabs.
The news comes as Boris Johnson used Europe’s soaring epidemic as a warning of what’s to come if Britons don’t get their booster vaccines.
No10 stated that it would only return to its winter Covid strategy “Plan B” if there is a ‘unsustainable’ NHS pressure. Ministers disagree with this assertion, despite the fact that health officials insist otherwise.
‘I’ve got to be absolutely frank with people, we’ve been here before – and we remember what happens when a wave starts rolling in,’ Mr Johnson said during a visit to a pharmacy in South London.
The PM, who is currently embroiled in a Tory sleaze row, warned that Britain’s fate this winter hinges on how many people get their boosters. ‘What I’m saying today is the urgency of getting that booster jab is more evident than ever,’ he said.
‘If you can get it, it’s a great thing, the levels of protection it gives you are terrific and so over-50s, who we’re calling forward, should come and get it.’
But he added: ‘What I’m also saying is that if we don’t do it fast enough, we can see the potential risks to the state of the pandemic in what’s happening in other parts of Europe.’
Coronavirus infection in the Netherlands has been on the rise for over a month, even though most social distancing strategies were abandoned in September. They reached their highest point since July this week. The UK has seen a decline in cases since October 24, however.
Data shows that the Netherlands’ number of covid-related deaths has increased since the beginning of November, according to statistics. This is due to hospitals being under stress.
There are now approximately 8.600 Covid-insured patients in English hospitals. This is compared to the 12,000 that were there last year. Pictured: Ambulances parked outside A&E at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, Merseyside
As a new wave of lockdown measures was announced, hundreds clashed against police at The Hague, Netherlands.
Neil Ferguson, Professor Lockdown has stated that the UK is not likely to adopt a Netherlands-style lockdown despite an increase of Covid cases.
According to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, (Sage), Britain is in a different situation than other European countries because the current wave of infection seems to be edging out.
The professor at Imperial College London told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We’ve had two or three weeks of declining cases and admission to hospitals – that may be petering out, it is too early to say.
“There has been a slight uptick over the past few days.”
“But, we’re in a very different situation than those European countries that you’re talking about (the Netherlands and Germany).
“We’ve seen very high numbers of cases – anywhere from 30,000 to 50.000 per day since July began – for the past four months.
“That obviously has had its downsides. The paradoxical upside is that it increased the population’s immunity to the disease, in comparison with France, Germany, and the Netherlands which had lower cases numbers but are just now starting to see an uptick.
According to the epidemiologist, who used his modeling skills to incite the initial lockdown last winter, he said that he hopes the UK will ‘avoid’ any return to social distancing this winter.
He added, “It is highly unlikely that we’ll get any close to last year’s disastrous winter wave.”
“We may see slower increases than we saw in October for example, but nothing as fast as what we saw last year.
“We must not be complacent. But at the moment, I don’t believe we’ll find ourselves in a position the Netherlands is entering where they need to address the rising number of social distancing cases.
“I really hope that this can be avoided in the country,”
The expert also said modelling from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has indicated that rolling out booster vaccinations to the ‘younger age groups’ once the most vulnerable have been jabbed could help ‘drive down transmission to low levels’ in Britain.
According to the Office for National Statistics, 925,400 persons in the country had been infected during the week ended November 6, according to the ONS.
This means that one in sixty people has the virus. It is 16.1 percent lower than the 1,103,300 cases estimated one week prior, in which one in fifty people was thought to have been infected.
The number of cases seems to be decreasing in every age group, especially among the 11-16-year-olds. In the past week, 4.8% were reported to have contracted the virus, as compared with 7.5% in seven days.
Experts have said that the decrease in immune function is more important than behavioral changes and restrictions.
On Thursday, separate data confirmed this trend. UK’s biggest symptom-tracking survey revealed that the number of cases decreased by just a fifth, marking the lowest weekly drop in symptoms since last summer.