The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
England can hug again – but PM urges caution with vulnerable people
The Covid-19 alert level in the UK has been downgraded after a “consistent” fall in cases, hospital admissions and deaths.
The UK’S four chief medical officers have said the threat level should be lowered from “level 4” to “level 3”, thanks to the success of the vaccination programme and social distancing restrictions.
This means the virus is in general circulation but transmission is no longer deemed to be high or rising significantly.
Experts said the nation is in a “strong position” to press ahead with the easing of coronavirus restrictions.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the public in England will be able to take a step closer to normality from next week as more indoor mixing and hugging loved ones will be permitted once more.
He added: “This doesn’t mean that we can suddenly throw caution to the winds. We all know that close contacts such as hugging is a direct way of transmitting this disease.
“So I urge you to think about the vulnerability of your loved ones.”
In a statement, the chief medical officers of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, said: “Following advice from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and in the light of the most recent data, the UK chief medical officers and NHS England national medical director agree that the UK alert level should move from level 4 to level 3.
“Thanks to the efforts of the UK public in social distancing and the impact we are starting to see from the vaccination programme, case numbers, deaths and Covid hospital pressures have fallen consistently. However, Covid is still circulating with people catching and spreading the virus every day so we all need to continue to be vigilant. This remains a major pandemic globally.”
The UK Covid-19 threat level has not been below level 3 since the start of the pandemic and the last time it was at this level was mid September 2020.
The threat level was raised to its highest level – level 5 – on January 4 when officials raised concerns the NHS was at risk of being “overwhelmed”. It was downgraded to level 4 in February.
Professor Sir John Bell said the nation was in a “very strong position” to move forward with the easing of restrictions which will enable people to “try and get back to normal”.
Oxford University’s regius professor of medicine said data from vaccination programmes from the UK, Israel and the US shows a “rather rapid fall-off ” in cases of disease, hospital admissions and deaths after rising numbers of people were given their first dose of vaccine.
He said: “It’s a really very striking fall in all those things.
“I do think that we’re in a very strong position to go forward now with fewer restrictions and try and get back to normal.”
Dr Mike Tildesley, from
Warwick University, said that figures for hospital admissions and new infections are similar to low levels seen last August.
But the member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-m) urged people to “act responsibly”.
He said: “The key message is, if and when this comes in, we need to remember the pandemic hasn’t gone away.
“We are still a few steps from normality, so it’s great that we can hug our loved ones, but what we need to remember is we need to be a little bit careful.”