According to a report by the British Ministry of Health Thursday night, 52009 new infections were identified through screening across the country in the past 24 hours. This is the highest daily number since July 17. On that day, 54,674 new cases of coronavirus were detected by laboratory tests.
In the week ending Thursday night, 327,537 cases of coronavirus were examined, 49,662 – 17.9 percent – more than the number of new infections detected in the same period a week ago.
According to the ministry’s data on Thursday, 115 people died of COVID-19 disease caused by infection with the coronavirus across the country in the past 24 hours and 912 people died in the past week. And the number of deaths in the week was 89, 10.8 percent, higher than the number of deaths recorded in the week period ending last Thursday.
According to the ministry, 8,142 patients in hospital are currently being treated for COVID-19 disease. However, the number of deaths and serious illnesses requiring hospital treatment remains well below the levels measured at the height of the coronavirus epidemic in the UK earlier this year, and consistent expert opinion indicates that this is a clear success of the vaccination campaign. In the second half of January, nearly 39,000 people needed hospital treatment, and that month was a day when the number of deaths exceeded 1,800.
However, several heads of the UK’s public health services (NHS) and business called on the UK government on Thursday to put in place a “Plan B” to curb the coronavirus pandemic due to the surge in infections.
The government lifted all legal restrictions it had enacted in the summer. At the same time, it has developed a ‘Plan B’ which, if needed to relieve pressure on the NHS, will reintroduce the mask if possible, work from home and continue to recommend general precautions to the public.
However, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters on Thursday that infection rates were already high, “but we are still within the parameters projected by SPI-M (the UK government’s scientific body for epidemiological model calculations) for the current phase of the year”.
According to Johnson, the most important thing to do now is for everyone to give themselves the third booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine once they have been notified of the possibility of applying for the vaccine. The British Prime Minister said that more than 4 million people have received the third dose of the vaccine so far.
In the UK, people over 50 are still eligible for the third dose. This age group has nearly 30 million members.
According to the data of the Department of Health Thursday evening
86.2 percent of the population over the age of 12 received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccination, and 79 percent received the second dose.
The total number of first and second vaccinations given so far in Britain exceeded 95 million on Thursday.
Cover Photo: Getty Images
