Covid: the situation remains critical in the UK

“We need to make sure we are able to reduce the number of cases, not just slow it down. “ British Health Minister Matt Hancock tried to explain to BBC Radio 4 on Monday why England was still far from being “Out of the forest”, in short, out of trouble in the face of the coronavirus, while Boris Johnson must confirm the progressive deconfinement of the country from 2 December.

The pandemic has already claimed more than 55,000 lives across the UK, the highest level in Europe in absolute terms, and the fifth country in the world behind the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico.

The number of new cases, at 18,662 in the UK on Sunday (totaling 1.51 million), was down by 6,300 from the previous Sunday. But the death toll has meanwhile increased by 230, to 398 dead on Sunday. The reproduction rate of the virus remains too high, which would be between 1 and 1.1 (a number above 1 means expansion of the virus). And although fewer ambulances are heard on the streets of London than in spring, the number of hospitalized patients in the UK on Thursday reached 16,390, an increase of 1,409 in one week.

One in 80 Brits

According to the Office for National Statistics, about 664,700 people got the coronavirus in the week of November 8-14 in England alone, or about 1 in 80 people. Infection rates continued to rise in London, in the east. and the southeast of the country. However, they had begun to regress in the central East Midlands region and the North West, which remains one of the most infected areas, along with Yorshire and Humber. “The number of cases has decreased in recent weeks by more than two thirds in Liverpool”welcomed Matt Hancock on Monday, following the massive screening campaign that was launched there.

In a country where the mask, although mandatory in shops, remains relatively little worn, the most contaminated age groups in England are secondary school youth (11-18 years), older teenagers and young adults. Infection rates continue to rise among children still in primary school, but stabilize among those over 25.

As the vaccines are soon on the market, the government has bought 40 million doses from Pfizer and BioNTech (for 20 million people, as they are taken twice), 100 million from AstraZeneca and the University from Oxford, and 5 million from Moderna. “Most of the vaccination campaign will take place in January, February and March”, said Matt Hancock, who made it clear that she “It could start in December”.