Call for caution as restrictions ease
BORIS JOHNSON has called for a “heavy dose of caution” as indoor socialising and physical contact resumes today against the backdrop of concerns over the Indian coronavirus variant.
The Prime Minister said “now everyone must play their part”, as England pushes ahead with the third stage of the road map out of lockdown. Pubs and restaurants will be able to welcome customers back indoors, household visits will resume and the foreign holiday ban will end.
Hugs and other physical contact between households will be permitted for the first time since restrictions began. But the measures are being eased as scientists warn of a “perilous moment”, with the Indian variant feared to be as much as 50% more transmissible than the Kent strain.
Mr Johnson said: “Together we have reached another milestone in our roadmap out of lockdown, but we must take this next step with a heavy dose of caution.
“We are keeping the spread of the variant first identified in India under close observation and taking swift action where infection rates are rising.”
He said the “current data does not indicate unsustainable pressure on the NHS”, and that second vaccine doses are being accelerated. He added: “But now everyone must play their part – by getting tested twice a week, coming forward for your vaccine when called and remembering hands, face, space and fresh air. I urge everyone to be cautious and take responsibility when enjoying new freedoms today in order to keep the virus at bay.”
Cinemas, hotels and B&Bs will also be allowed to reopen today, as the “rule of six” will be applied to indoor meetings, while physical distancing ends between friends and family. Ministers are hoping surge testing and vaccines will allow a safe opening up, with jabs due to be extended to the over-35s this week. But Health Secretary Matt Hancock did not rule out the possibility of local lockdowns in areas such as Bolton to tackle the Indian variant. He said there were more than 1,300 cases of the variant, which is “relatively widespread in small numbers” and is becoming “the dominant strain” in Bolton and Blackburn.
But offering good news over plans to ease restrictions without unleashing a fresh wave of infections and deaths, Mr Hancock told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday there was “new very early data” from Oxford University giving confidence that existing vaccines worked against the variant.
Sir John Bell, Oxford’s regius professor of medicine, said the result of lab experiments investigating whether the vaccine neutralises the Indian variant “looks okay”.
“It’s not perfect, but it’s not catastrophically bad,” he told Times Radio, adding there was only “a slight reduction in the ability to neutralise the virus”.
Mr Hancock urged people to come forward for their jabs when eligible, as he said the “vast majority” of people hospitalised with the strain in Bolton had not taken the vaccine.