England lifts curbs as Delta variant hits Europe and Asia
But despite warnings, accusations of recklessness, restrictions on daily life were lited in England, with no social distancing, mask requirements; virus is sadly still out there, says Johnson
LONDON: England lited most pandemic restrictions on Monday despite surging infections and dire warnings from experts, as the Delta variant sweeps parts of Europe and Asia, where new cases are threatening to scupper the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
As England celebrated so-called “freedom day,” Vietnam locked down much of its population, while Indonesia clocked daily record deaths and in France lawmakers were set to toughen vaccine rules to batle rising cases.
The highly transmissible Delta variant, first detected in India, is driving new outbreaks along with a relaxation of measures, as countries seek to kickstart virus-batered economies.
In Britain, daily infections have climbed, averaging more than 50,000 since last week, with Delta taking hold in many areas.
But despite accusations against the UK government of recklessness, it lited legal mandates on social distancing, wearing masks and working from home, urging personal responsibility instead.
Nightclubs in England reopened their floors to dancers at the stroke of midnight for the first time since March 2020, while sports stadiums, cinemas and theatres can now run at full capacity.
“I thought, well, we missed New Year’s, so why not come out and celebrate?” said Nicola Webster Calliste, 29, outside a club in Leeds, northern England. “It’s like a new chapter.”
In the UAE, The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) announced that it conducted 227,582 additional COVID-19 tests over the past 24 hours, using state-of-the-art medical testing equipment.
The ministry announced 1,508 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the UAE to 662,486.
Ministry also announced two deaths due to COVID-19 complications, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 1,900.
MOHAP also noted that an additional 1,477 individuals had fully recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 640,248.
The ministry said that 16,905 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered during the past 24 hours.
The total number of doses provided up to today stands at 16,375,149 with a rate of vaccine distribution of 165.57 doses per 100 people.
In Saudi Arabia, any citizen wishing to travel abroad will be required to have had two doses of coronavirus vaccine from next month, tightening existing measures, the interior ministry said on Monday.
“The second dose of the vaccine against Covid will be a condition of all overseas travel for all citizens from August 9, 2021,” the ministry wrote in a statement published by the official SPA news agency.children under 12, those with approved health insurance, patients recovered from coronavirus within the last six months and former Covid patients having received one dose of vaccine will be exempt.
On the other hand, Officials in Thailand further tightened coronavirus restrictions on Monday in response to an alarming rise in cases and deaths that is stressing the country’s health care system.
City officials in Bangkok, the capital, ordered a range of establishments to close completely from Tuesday for two weeks or until further notice. They include museums, cinemas, amusement parks, fitness centers and swimming pools. Beauty parlors and barber shops may operate but must limit the numbers of customers, and public parks can stay open until 8 p.m.
Astrazeneca Plc has told Thailand it should be able to supply around 6 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine per month, leaked correspondence showed, contradicting assertions by Thai officials that the government had been promised 10 million.
In Japan, a third athlete at the Olympic Village in Tokyo has tested positive for COVID-19, with the Czech Republic team reporting the case Monday of a beach volleyball player who could miss his first game.
Czech beach volleyball player Ondřej Perušič could miss his opening game on Monday ater a PCR test confirmed his infection. Perušič and his playing partner are due to the begin their Olympic program against a team from Latvia.
Czech team leader Martin Doktor said in a statement they would ask to postpone the game until the infected player is cleared to play.
Perušič, who said he has been vaccinated, is the second member of the Czech delegation to test positive in Tokyo ater a team official’s case was reported Saturday. He is the third athlete who was staying at the village to test positive. Two South African men’s soccer players had their COVID-19 cases announced Sunday.
Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa said on Monday that it has approved trials with a third dose of the Astrazeneca vaccine against COVID-19.
Anvisa said a third dose of the vaccine would be administered to 10,000 volunteers between 11 and 13 months ater the second shot.
Brazil registered 948 new COVID-19 deaths and 34,126 additional cases, according to data released by the country’s Health Ministry on Sunday.
Brazil has now registered a total of 542,214 coronavirus deaths and 19,376,574 total confirmed cases.
Virtually all pandemic restrictions were lited in England on Monday but “freedom day” was met with deep concern from scientists as coronavirus cases surge across the nation - and around the world.
Fuelled by the more infection Delta variant, cases are spiking across the Asia-pacific, parts of Africa and Europe, and even the heavily vaccinated United States.
Daily infection numbers have also climbed in Britain, topping 50,000.
But despite warnings and accusations of recklessness, restrictions on daily life were lited in England, with no social distancing and mask requirements.
Sports stadia, cinemas, theatres and nightclubs were allowed to run at full capacity from 2300 GMT Sunday.
“I thought, well, we missed New Year’s, so why not come out and celebrate?” said Nicola Webster Calliste, 29, outside a nightclub in Leeds, northern England.
“It’s like a new chapter.” Covid-19 travel rules and self-isolation for close contacts remain in place.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson - who is selfisolating ater his health minister was infected - has defended the move, dubbed “freedom day” by some media, but urged people to remain prudent.
The government has said that thanks to a rapid vaccination programme, the risks to the healthcare system are manageable.
Johnson’s bet that he can get one of Europe’s largest economies firing again because so many people are now vaccinated marks a new chapter in the global response to the coronavirus.
If the vaccines prove effective in reducing severe illness and deaths even while infections reach record levels, Johnson’s decision could offer a path out of the worst public health crisis in decades. If not, more lockdowns could loom.
But Johnson’s big day was marred by “pingdemic chaos” as a National Health Service app ordered hundreds of thousands of people to self-isolate - prompting warnings supermarket shelves could soon be emptied.
“If we don’t do it now we’ve got to ask ourselves, when will we ever do it?”
Johnson said just hours ater he was forced to abandon a plan to dodge the 10-day quarantine requirement for himself and finance minister Rishi Sunak.
“This is the right moment but we’ve got to do it cautiously. We’ve got to remember that this virus is sadly still out there.”
Britain has the seventh highest death toll in the world, 128,708, and is forecast to soon have more new infections each day than it did at the height of a second wave of the virus earlier this year. On Sunday there were 48,161 new cases.
But, outstripping European peers, 87% of Britain’s adult population has had one vaccination dose, and more than 68% have had the two doses which provide fuller protection. Daily deaths, currently at around 40 per day, are just a fraction of a peak of above 1,800 seen in January.
But its stated approach of liting curbs ahead of any winter surge of respiratory disease was marked by “moral emptiness and epidemiological stupidity,” said University of Bristol public health expert Gabriel Scally.
Scotland and Wales, whose devolved governments set their own health policy, said they would maintain the mask mandate among other curbs.
European nations including Spain and Greece have been forced to reimpose restrictions to batle new outbreaks recently.
The coronavirus is known to have claimed more than four million lives since it emerged in late 2019 but, for some nations in the Asia-pacific, the worst is still ahead of them.
Although Australia has enjoyed far lower case numbers than most nations, it is also struggling with outbreaks in its two biggest cities.
Melbourne extended a lockdown on Monday, meaning roughly 12 million Australians will remain under some form of stay-at-home orders.
Worries have also grown in the United States, where despite a majority of the adult population receiving at least one shot and months of declining spread, Covid-19 cases have soared by a 135 per cent over the past two weeks.
Los Angeles, which has seen a sharp spike, renewed its mask mandate, and the US surgeon general warned Sunday that other areas may have to do the same.