Advertisement
Boris Johnson today admitted he was anxious about the Indian variant spreading rapidly in the UK and warned the Government would rule nothing out in its effort to contain it – as official figures revealed weekly Covid cases have doubled in four hotspots where the strain is surging.
The Prime Minister claimed England s lockdown-easing plans on Monday and June 21 were still on track despite cases of the B.1.617.2 strain also tripling nationally in the last seven days – but hinted localised measures could be imposed.
This could include surge vaccinations , in which jabs are offered to all adults in certain areas, rather than prioritising older groups, as well as surge testing which is already being used to tackle other variants.
Public Health England data shows Bolton, Bedford, Blackburn with Darwen and Sefton are seeing Covid rises
All four are hotspots for the Indian variant, according to analysis by one of the UK s biggest variant trackers
Prime Minister claimed that England s lockdown-easing plans still on track but hinted at local restrictions
SAGE is meeting today to decide whether to keep curbs for longer to contain spread of the Indian variant
Cross-party MPs and families living in hotspots blamed ministers for taking weeks to put India on red list
Indian variant hotspot Blackburn offers jabs to all over-18s as Boris admits he s anxious over 100% increase in some areas as national infection rate creeps up
Count of new positive tests was on par with last Thursday, with a 1.7 per cent rise. Deaths fell 15 per cent
Dr Yvonne Doyle, Public Health England medical director, said falling hospital admissions are proof jabs work
Almost 640,000 more vaccine doses were given out yesterday, with 35.9million having had at least one dose
Number of Brits getting ill with Covid every day has risen by 65% in a week to 2,800 amid rapid spread of Indian variant but top expert says vaccines have changed the game because they are making the infection mild
ZOE and King s College London experts estimated 2,800 Britons were infected with the virus a day last week
This was up 65 per cent in a week, but they said vaccinated people who caught the virus had a mild infection
It comes as SAGE scientists are called to an emergency meeting because of rising Indian variant cases