The UK has recorded the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, with 78,610 reported on Wednesday.
The previous record was 68,053 on 8 January – when the UK was in lockdown.
Speaking at a news conference, England’s chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty warned that records will be broken a lot in the next few weeks.
He added people should prioritise what matters with regards to social mixing in the run-up to Christmas.
Speaking alongside Prof Whitty, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was “absolutely vital” that everyone gets a booster jab.
He warned that in some areas the doubling rate for cases was now under two days, adding: “I’m afraid we’re also seeing the inevitable increase in hospitalisations up by 10% nationally, week-on-week, and up by almost a third in London.”
Prof Whitty said the country was experiencing two separate epidemics, one driven by the “very rapidly-growing” Omicron variant and the other by the Delta variant.
“I’m afraid we have to be realistic that records will be broken a lot over the next few weeks as the rates continue to go up,” he added.
Asked whether people should be going to Christmas or New Year parties, Prof Whitty: “Don’t mix with people you don’t have to.
“[You] don’t need a medical degree to realise that is a sensible thing to do with an incredibly infectious virus.”
He encouraged people to take tests before visiting vulnerable people and to meet in areas of good ventilation or outdoors if possible.
The prime minister said the government was not cancelling Christmas events by restricting gatherings or closing pubs and restaurants, but cautioned people to think carefully about the socialising they did.
He said: “I said many times that I thought that this Christmas will be considerably better than last Christmas, and I stick to that.”
Questions about whether restrictions should be introduced are going to grow the more cases rise.
That is understandable. But it is also important to remember restrictions don’t stop the epidemic – they just prolong it.
They can be used to buy you time. Last winter the lockdown allowed the rollout of vaccines.
With more than 80% of the most vulnerable boosted the benefits of a lockdown are much lower this time.
The costs, however, are the same, perhaps greater considering what people have endured so far in terms of the harm to jobs, mental health and education.
Source – BBC
