Wales: Crown numbers are on the rise again after the lightning-fast lockdown

The second block at national level, effective from November 5th, ends on December 2nd. With promising consequences: The number of new coronavirus infections in England has dropped by about a third, like one Imperial College London studio Shows.

In contrast, Wales in southwestern Britain relied on a so-called circuit breaker between 23 October and 9 November. “Safety switch“) – a measure that, with rising infection rates, is still a topic in Switzerland and on which Israel, Singapore and New Zealand also rely.

This means a short, time-limited and systematic block in which people can do this H.must remain ause. The goal is to slow the spread of the coronavirus by stopping its exponential growth. At the same time, the economic costs should be kept to a minimum – in contrast to the arrest.

The balance after the 19 day lockout is mixed for Wales. So the authorities acted first Optimistic: There are promising reinforcement measures that disrupting the circuit has brought desired results, he said. The number of hospitalizations due to Corona begins to stabilize, and fewer ICU beds were again needed.

But in the meantime Ist the floor, den Wales during the block due to interruption of the circuit could fix it, I’m lost again. So it was 7-Daily incidence last Friday at 187 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. On Monday stieg they already count on 201 cases. At the end of this week, Marc Drakeford’s government is again applying tougher measures. For the moment, recreational facilities such as cinemas, clubs or museums are concerned, which must remain closed, as well as restaurants, which can no longer sell alcohol and must close after 18:00.

What went wrong? According to Colin Furness, an epidemiologist at the University of Toronto, circuit breaker blocks are often too short. A Covid patient is assumed to be contagious for around 14 days. If no one leaves the house for two weeks during a breaker lockout, broadcasts will be cut off, in theory.

In reality, however, there will also be new infections during the mini lockdown, according to Furness. This is because mobility will never be completely stopped, some people would have been infected with the virus before the measure took effect, and there would have been infections in the same family at the start of the blocks. According to Furness, a circuit breaker must last more than two weeks. “That’s rightr The blockade must last at least 18 days to effectively reduce the number of cases “.

Is critical dato agreat communication between authorities and population. If, contrary to the announcements, the temporary blocks were repeatedly extended, that would cost a huge amount of trust and goodwill, according to the epidemiologist. This is what happened in Scotland, for example. This imposed a two-week mini-lockout, extended by a week, and finally announced 5Tier system for differently affected regions. Critics see this as proof that such a blockade will do nothing and that the government doesn’t know what it is doing. Nonetheless, Northern Ireland has also decided on another two-week lockdown. It ends on 11. December.