Prime Minister Boris Johnson began the press conference by saying he wanted the “road map” for recovery from the pandemic to be “cautious and irreversible”.
“So far, the opening up of the British economy has been accompanied by more infections and hospitalizations,” said Boris Johnson. “There are millions of young people who have not been vaccinated, the elderly and the frail who may die if they do not receive two doses of the vaccine,” he added.
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Boris Johnson admitted that the government is concerned about the delta variant of the coronavirus. He added that the number of new cases in the UK was increasing by about 64 per cent. Weekly, the hardest-hit areas of the country double each week.
– Average number of cases increased by 50%. Week after week at 61 percent. In the northwest of England. He emphasized that even if the link between infection and hospitalization weakened, it was not completely cut.
He noted that the number of people staying in the intensive care unit was also increasing – by 15 percent. weekly.
– The government faced a difficult choice whether to continue with the fourth step (i.e. completely liberalizing the economy, which was scheduled for June 21 – ed.), because there is a very real chance that the virus will “bypass vaccines” and that there will be thousands of deaths, which can be avoided – The British Prime Minister argued.
In his opinion, the British should be patient and give the NHS (the equivalent of our National Health Trust) a few more weeks to get the situation under control. “So it would be wise to wait a little longer,” he said.
Boris Johnson said he will suspend the lifting of sanitation restrictions in England until July 19, except for weddings and funerals, which may still take place with more than 30 guests, provided that social distancing is maintained.
He also said that events such as Euro 2020 and some theater performances could take place.
After two weeks, the situation will be reviewed and the government reserves the right to lift all restrictions. “I am convinced that we will not have to wait four weeks for the lockdown to be lifted,” he said.
In turn, the chief physician of England, Prof. Chris Whitty, who accompanied the Prime Minister to the conference, added that Britons now need two doses of the vaccine for strong protection against the virus.
“Most of the people who are hospitalized now are young people because vaccines protect the elderly,” he said.
