UK Covid cases higher than Europe
COVID-19 infection rates in Britain remain stubbornly high, contrasting sharply with its European neighbours and prompting fresh questions of the UK government.
For two weeks, the number of new cases has wavered between 35,000 and 40,000 a day, and on Monday (18) nudged closer to 50,000 – the highest since the July peak of the delta variant outbreak.
The daily death toll has often exceeded 100 since the summer, adding to an overall toll of more than 138,000, second only to Russia in Europe.
“Sadly, at the moment the UK has a higher level of Covid-19 than most other comparable countries. This is seen not just in positive tests but in hospital admissions and deaths,” said Jim Naismith, professor of structural biology at the University of Oxford.
France is recording some 4,000 cases a day and Germany 10,000. Deaths are running at about 30 and 60 daily, respectively, in both countries.
Questions are being asked about the gulf in figures, even if prime minister Boris Johnson – who survived a spell in hospital intensive care with Covid – appears unconcerned.
Scientists have already voiced fears that the high case numbers could overload the NHS, which is often under pressure in the autumn and winter from respiratory infections.
“We always knew the coming months could be challenging,” Johnson’s official spokesman said on Monday.
“Obviously, different countries are potentially at different stages of their vaccination programmes and have different measures in place, so it’s difficult to compare and contrast,” he said.
“But it’s important to strike the right balance between protecting lives and livelihoods.”
Britain has mainly used the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which was shown to be less effective at preventing infection from the delta variant than the mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna predominantly used in Europe.
The country also began its vaccination programme earlier, prompting questions about whether immunity is now waning, similar to Israel’s experience.
Only 41 per cent of those vaccinated have received a booster shot so far, raising doubts about the effectiveness of the follow-up programme.
Attitudes to mask-wearing also differ – according to a YouGov poll, around 15 per cent of Britons say they never wear a mask in public. In Europe, it was about five per cent.
The survey also indicated that far more Britons are returning to public transport or large gatherings than on mainland Europe.
Johnson, who wants to get the country’s economy moving again, is reluctant to reimpose restrictions.
But Naismith said: “Some immediate mitigation measures (masking, ventilation) would seem desirable...”