PM: We will bounce back in 2021 from biggest crisis in generations
BRITAIN faces a hard struggle in the coming months but will bounce back from coronavirus in 2021, Boris Johnson has said.
In a sombre but hopeful new year message, the Prime Minister reflected on how “we lost too many loved ones before their time” because of the pandemic.
But the country has also rediscovered a “spirit of togetherness” in which people have “pulled out the stops to keep us moving in the biggest crisis we have faced for generations”.
Mr Johnson went on to praise scientists who produced the world’s first effective treatment for Covid- 19, as well as those who worked on the Oxford vaccine.
He said last night: “We know that we have a hard struggle still ahead of us for weeks and months, because we face a new variant of the disease that requires a new vigilance. But as the sun rises tomorrow on 2021, we have the certainty of those vaccines.”
His message came as a further 964 Covid- 19 deaths were reported across the UK and a record 55,892 new cases were confirmed.
Health chiefs begged people to stick to the rules and see in the new year at home. Dr Yvonne Doyle, medical director at Public Health England, said: “Every life lost to this disease is a sadness. It is imperative we all take action now to protect our family and friends.
“The Christmas week saw a worrying rise in cases across every region of the country, particularly among adults in their 20s and 30s.
“We must not now add further fuel to the fire, as meeting in close and large groups risks further transmission.”
Around 44 million people are under the toughest Tier 4 rules as the country battles to bring the new fasterspreading under control. But on Wednesday night in Liverpool, revellers took to the streets before stricter Tier 3 rules came into effect at midnight.
Intensive care doctor Professor Hugh Montgomery told BBC Radio Five Live: “Anyone who doesn’t wear their mask and behaves like this – they have blood on their hands, they are spreading this virus. People will die.”
Locals at the Mermaid Inn on the Isles of Scilly – the only place in Tier 1 – were
able to see in the new year with a pint in hand as pubs stayed open.
Data from NHS Test and Trace showed more than 232,000 people tested positive for coronavirus in England in the week to December 23 – up 33 per cent on the previous week.
Public Health England’s report also showed rates were highest among people in their 30s, at 557.5 per 100,000 people in the week to December 27, up from 495.4 the previous week.
Some 22,728 Covid- 19 patients were in hospitals in England as of 8am yesterday – the highest figure recorded. Just under half of all major hospital trusts had more coronavirus patients than at the peak of the first wave of the virus.
In worst- hit areas ambulances were queuing outside A& E for hours due to bed shortages. Some hospitals issued alerts over dangerously low oxygen supplies.
Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, said pressure was intensifying particularly in London and the South- east, where there has been an “extremely worrying” surge in admissions.
She added: “We know cases are rising sharply, with the new variant making a big impact, so more demand for treatment is ‘ baked in’. We are in for a very difficult new year.”
Nightingale hospitals across England are being “readied” for use as Covid patient numbers rise, including the one at the Excel centre in London.
An NHS spokesman said: “In anticipation of pressures rising from the spread of the new variant infection, NHS London was asked to ensure the London Nightingale was reactivated.”
Nightingale hospitals in Manchester, Bristol and Harrogate, which are currently in use for non- Covid patients, are being readied too, the spokesman added.