The NHS lists the following as official Covid-19 symptoms: “Waning immunity means that booster shots will be necessary in the autumn to protect the elderly, clinically vulnerable and frontline healthcare workers.” Covid symptoms We need to prepare now for the autumn and winter months when colder weather will drive people indoors increasing the risk of infection not only with new Covid variants but also with other respiratory virus infections,” Professor Young said. “This wave provides a warning for what we could experience over the autumn and winter. The recent wave has led to fears of a larger autumn wave, however. “The hope is that this will be similar here and that we have reached the peak of infections.” “The good news is that where other countries have experienced significant waves of B.4 and BA.5, namely Portugal and South Africa, these waves have now peaked without a major increase in severe disease, principally due to the levels of vaccination in these populations. “It’s a wake-up call about our vulnerability to new variants – this wave of infection is driven by new Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, that are more infectious and able to evade immune protection afforded by vaccination and previous infection. “This significant rise in symptomatic infections is really worrying and demonstrates that there’s no room for complacency as far as Covid is concerned,” said Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick. Waning immunity from vaccination and prior infection has also played a role in the increases, as has increased socialising as people increasingly return to normal. The impact of this type of event typically feeds through to increases in Covid cases for about a fortnight, experts say.īut over the course of this month the overwhelming driver of infections has been the rapid growth of the new Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5 – which have ousted BA.2 as the dominant variants in the UK. The surge in cases this month was initially driven by the long weekend of Jubilee Celebrations, which began on Thursday 2 June. “We’re now in the phase where the virus is losing its potency overall and we’ve got a massively vaccinated UK population.” Why are Covid cases rising again? I’ve got to be absolutely frank with you, there could be a new variant more deadly, there could be a variant that affects children, that we really need to contain, I’m not going to take any options off the table. “I believe the things we did saved lives. He said back in April: “I want to avoid any such thing ever happening again.”īut added: “I think it would be irresponsible of any leader in any democracy to say that they’re going to rule out something that can save lives. Of all over-12s in the UK, 87 per cent have received two doses of the Covid vaccine, and just under 69 per cent have also received a booster.ĭespite the Living with Covid plan, Boris Johnson has refused to completely rule out another lockdown, though it remains very unlikely. “The plan sets out how vaccines and other pharmaceutical interventions will continue to form our first line of defence.” The British public have made extraordinary sacrifices during the 2020 lockdowns, the Roadmap, and recent Plan B measures in response to the Omicron variant. “The Prime Minister has been clear that restrictions would not stay in place a day longer than necessary. “Thanks to our hugely successful vaccination programme, the immunity built up in the population and our new antiviral and therapeutics tools, the UK is in the strongest possible position to learn how to live with Covid and end government regulation,” the Government said. The Government said it was able to make this move due to the high levels of vaccination. The crux of the plan was to move away from government restrictions and towards a system of personal resposibilty.Īs such, all remaining Covid restrictions were dropped, including the legal requirement to self-isolate after catching the virus. The UK Government published its “Living with Covid” plan in February. Covid inquiry verdict on Tory austerity set to be delayed until after general election 07 August, 2023 Opinion | Pandemic preparations at Porton Down will be undermined by the UK's deep inequality 07 August, 2023 Opinion | For scientists at the UK's secret vaccine lab, Covid was only the beginning 07 August, 2023 Could there be another lockdown?
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